CopOut
by Sweet Sookie
Summary: Eric is a cop that gets mistaken for a stripper at Sookie's birthday. What happens when Sookie finds out? A/H
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** HAPPY BIRTHDAY Missus T!

So, I made this for you and I attempted my 1st sexin just for you so if you hate it I am really sorry. I tried really hard, lol.

I love you! :D

BTW, I don't own these characters, CH does, and any remaining mistakes are my own.

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"I am going to kill you!" I yelled at Amelia as I walked into my front door and came face to face with my surprise party. "I thought we were just going to watch a movie or something."

"Sook, you know me. Since you finally broke up with that asshole, this is your first free birthday in years. Did you honestly think I was just going to let you sit at home and watch a movie to celebrate your 26th birthday?"

"Um, that's what you told me so, yeah."

"Well, you should know better than anyone that I lie to get what I want," she said as she winked at me and walked through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Looking into the small crowed of people, I could see the faces of my closest friends. Tara was standing in the kitchen pouring drinks since she's a bartender at Merlotte's, where we both work. My cousin Claudine was talking to my co-workers Arlene and Holly. Tara's cousin Lafayette was singing pretty loud to the stereo set up on my entertainment stand and shaking his ass like he was being paid to do it. Looking around the room, I vaguely realized, besides Lafayette, there were no other men at the party.

"Hey Ame!" I called into the kitchen. "Why didn't you invite Sam and Jason?"

"This is a girls only party Sook. You'll see why later."

Knowing Amelia, I had no idea what she could have planned and to be honest, I was scared.

Eric POV

"Alcide, hurry your ass up. We got a call on the radio," I yelled to my partner as I slid into the driver's seat of our police cruiser. He was standing outside the convenient store talking to two girls who looked like prostitutes. Their short skirts barely covered their asses and they wore matching halter tops with their plastic tits hanging out.

I was practically a rookie on the force after only being on it for two years. Alcide was in my class during training and even though we were two rookies, we worked well together. At least when he wasn't chasing after girls like a horny teenager.

He finally tore away from the girls and sat in the passenger's side of the car. "What is it, Eric? A little longer and I could have had them both spread eagle in the back seat. Well, as much as the space would allow," Alcide said as he grinned at me.

"And you wonder why Debbie keeps leaving your sorry ass. You'd hump the first able bodied girl that crossed your path."

"Not true. Debbie's gone because I kicked her ass out because she is a jealous, homicidal bitch."

"I'm not going to argue with you about your crazy ex all night. We got a noise complaint on Hummingbird Lane."

"You pulled me away from a possible threesome because of a noise complaint. You're a jackass."

"Go pick up prostitutes on your own time."

"Now Eric, you know I've never had to pay for sex."

I refused to reply to that and instead rolled my eyes.

Without further arguing we drove to the address given for the noise disturbance. The address belonged to a white farmhouse in a secluded area. I couldn't even see any other houses nearby to have even made the complaint but there was definitely loud music and yelling coming from the inside. I sighed and walked up to the front door with Alcide trailing behind me.

Sookie POV

The more the liquor flowed, the more everyone lost their inhibitions. Arlene, being a single mom and not being able to go out much, got drunk quicker than all of us. Even though she was a, not so secret, racist and homophobe, she was on the make shift dance floor grinding her ass in time with Lafayette.

Claudine didn't drink any alcohol since she was pregnant and Holly had never been a drinker. Tara stayed pretty sober since she was the one pouring most of the drinks.

Even though most of the girls, and Lafayette, were pretty sober, they still knew how to party. Amelia didn't need liquid courage to stand on my coffee table and shake her ass. Holly and Claudine were sitting on the couch loudly laughing about Sam handling a customer that had gotten too handsy with Holly.

"Hey Tara," I said as I walked up to the makeshift bar, "can you make me another gin and tonic?"

"No problem, Sook."

"I feel bad asking you to make my drink but I could never mix drinks as good as you."

"You don't have to compliment me to get me to make your drink," Tara said as she winked at me. "Plus, I don't mind. I've always liked working the bar. It gives me a chance to laugh at all the people that can't hold their liquor," Tara said as she looked over at Arlene gyrating on my living room floor.

Seeing Arlene make a fool of herself made me glad Amelia and I both took it slow. I had two gin and tonics the entire night and was now sipping on my third.

I went to stand in the corner by the front door as I watched the rest of my friends laughing and dancing. The stereo was so loud I was surprised they could even hear each other talk. Then again they were all yelling pretty loud.

I was a little worried about how wild our small party had become when I heard a knock on the door.

Since I was the closest to the door, and no one else seemed to hear it, I answered the knock. In front of me stood the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. He was really tall, maybe 6'3", 6'4". His eyes were a piercing blue and his hair was the color of wheat.

It was only after I was done ogling him that I realized he was a cop. Even though I was thinking, _oh shit,_ I couldn't help but notice how tight his uniform was, in all the right places.

"Hi, officer, is there a problem?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Um…" That's all he got out before Amelia saw him, and jumped off the coffee table, and rushed over to the door.

"Dammit Sookie, it was supposed to be a surprise! No one told you to answer the door!"

"I am SO sorry, Amelia, but if you didn't have the music so damn loud maybe someone else would have heard it," I said as I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

She gave me a glare and pointed to one of the chairs in my living room. "You go sit there while I get everything set up."

Amelia grabbed the man at the door by his wrist and dragged him inside. After I finished staring at his delectable ass as Amelia dragged him away, I finally saw the man that was standing behind him. He was an inch taller than the blonde but his opposite is every other way. This guy had brown shaggy hair and green eyes. His skin was tan where the blonde's was pale. Both men were gorgeous.

The second cop followed Amelia dragging the first cop. Then they all huddled in the corner talking while I sat in the chair watching the scene play out. Whatever was being said, the blonde didn't like it. He was shaking his head and I could read his lips saying "no" over and over. I wondered what they were talking about.

Amelia left the group and the two guys went into the kitchen to talk. They kept glancing over at me and then I REALLY wanted to know what they were talking about.

I didn't realize what was going on until the rest of the girls, and Lafayette, came to sit on the couch and remaining chairs. Each had a wad of single dollar bills. Then it hit me, those men weren't cops, they were strippers!

Eric POV

When the door opened, I saw an angel. She was about a foot shorter than me with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. When I looked past her I could see there was a party obviously going on inside.

The blonde asked if there was a problem and I started to stutter like a fucking nervous teenager. I was saved from embarrassing myself more when a brunette came to the door.

Apparently we were expected and it was all part of a surprise? I don't know who would purposefully have a loud party in hopes of drawing the cops or what kind of surprise that would be.

The blonde, called Sookie, and the brunette, called Amelia, had a little argument until Amelia led me inside. By this time the music was shut off and I heard Alcide follow in behind me.

Amelia led us into a corner and started whispering about what she called, "our job." Right away I knew she had us mistaken.

"Ok so, Sook ruined the surprise by answering the door but I was expecting you guys a little later. Anyway, how do you guys want to do this? Do you strip together or…?" She trailed off as I just looked at her dumbfounded.

I kept repeating, "No, no, no" while Alcide stood there like a fucking idiot not saying a word.

Amelia must have thought I was just saying "no" to her question of us stripping together so she continued to explain how this would work out.

"Okay, so no dancing together, even though that would have been hot," she trailed off with a sigh. "Since its Sookie's birthday I think you should give her a private dance and your partner can stay here and entertain the rest of the guests," she said, talking to me. I can't lie and say that spending any amount of time alone with Sookie wasn't appealing but the fact of the matter was, I wasn't a stripper.

"I'll leave you two to get set up and I'll just turn on the music when you're ready." She walked off back toward the party and Alcide and I went into the kitchen.

"What the fuck? You didn't say anything. You do realize they think we're male strippers don't you?"

"Eric, I've been thinking about this and isn't as bad as you think. You work over the blonde in private and I'll take my pick from the girls out here. By the end of the night, we'll both get laid."

"We're still on the clock!" I yelled in disbelief. "Is your dick all you think about?"

"Listen, we get off soon anyway, what's wrong with spending the last half hour on this call? Besides, it's not like your dick won't benefit from this too."

"Are you out of your fucking mind? You cannot be seriously thinking about doing this?"

"I've already made my mind up. Either you get the hot blonde to yourself, or you leave and I'll take her on too. I already planned on being naked by the end of the night anyway."

"You're so gross. This won't work. Even if I get _Sookie_," I emphasized her name, "alone, I still have to strip for her to keep up with the charade and sex is not guaranteed."

"Look at her." I turned to look at Sookie who was staring at us. "You have a chance with that. If you pass up on it, I guarantee you that I won't."

Now I felt like I had to do it just to save her from Alcide. _Just keep telling yourself that._

"This is crazy, right?"

"Yeah, but it's worth it."

Looking at Sookie, I had to admit that he was right. Even if it was only for one night, I would do anything to be with Sookie. The fact that I wasn't really a stripper wouldn't have anything to do with her decision to sleep with me, right?

Sookie POV

At first, I was unsure about having someone strip for me. However, after looking at the gorgeous Adonis in my kitchen, I decided that they was no better way to celebrate my 26th birthday and my newly single status.

Reluctantly, I accepted a stack of singles from Amelia and waited for the show.

The blonde and his partner came back from the kitchen and I started to feel nervous. My butterflies got even worse when the blonde grabbed my hand and pulled me to stand.

"Your friend said the birthday girl gets her own private dance. Is there somewhere else we can go?" he whispered to me and it was like sex for my eardrum.

My mouth had completely lost the ability to form words so I just led him upstairs to my bedroom. I was a bit nervous about taking a man I had never met into my bedroom but there was nowhere else in the house that was both private and appropriate to receive a private strip tease in.

As I entered my room, I sat on the end of the bed since there was no other place to sit.

"Is it ok if I sit here or should I get a chair…?" I asked, not sure what I needed to do.

"Um, no, you can sit there. Do you have a radio or anything?"

"Yeah, sure." I went to my closet and got my iPod out of my purse and plugged it into the speakers on my nightstand. I walked back to the foot of the bed and stood awkwardly, unsure of what I was supposed to do.

"You can look through it and see what song you think is best. I'm not really sure what your routine is like."

He walked over to the iPod and scrolled through the songs. He must have taken his socks and shoes off while I was in the closet because he was now barefoot. I could tell when he found the right song because he had a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

"Paralyzer" by Finger Eleven, filtered through the speakers and he strolled over to me like sex embodied.

As the beat started, he rolled his hips and my throat went dry. I knew the rule at strip clubs, you aren't supposed to touch the strippers, and I wondered if the same rules applied here.

"Is it ok if I touch you?" he breathed into my ear as he leaned down over me. I couldn't do more than nod my head.

He hesitantly trailed his hand from my shoulders to my hands. When he went back up he ran his hand up the sides of my body. My body felt overly sensitive from the anticipation and his touch sent shivers through my entire body. When his thumbs skimmed my breasts, I had to stifle a moan.

"Eric."

"Hmm?"

"My name is Eric," he said as he grabbed me by my hips. One of his legs went between mine, and he grinded on me as he began unbuttoning his shirt.

The more buttons he released, the more I could see of his rock hard chest and his chiseled abs. His chest had a smattering of blond hair and his abs was clearly defined.

Once he had his shirt completely un-tucked and unbuttoned, he slid it slowly off his shoulders and onto the floor. With his upper body entirely naked, I couldn't help but notice a very defined "v."

Eric grabbed my hands and put them on his chest as he continued to dance. I was still nervous but my hands couldn't sit still. They roamed all over his broad chest and I could feel his heart beating strong and steady. I know my heart was beating out of my chest and my breath was coming out in shallow quick bursts. It was clear that I was extremely turned on by this man in front of me.

Eric maneuvered us until he stood behind me. With his chest pressed against my back I felt his obvious erection pressed against my ass. Instinctually I grinded my ass against it and heard him moan my name. It snapped me out of lust-induced haze and I jumped out of his grip.

"I'm so sorry!" I yelled, totally embarrassed by what I had done. My face grew hot as I blushed.

"Sookie, it's ok. I want you to be able to do whatever you want," he said soothingly to me. He walked up to me and took my hands in his. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Yes," I murmured, unable to look at him. I was embarrassed but I didn't want him to stop. I had to admit I was turned on by Eric and everything he did. The fact that he was a stripper and this was all for show made me feel like I could let loose because I knew we couldn't take this too far.

"Ok," he said as he kissed my cheek at the same time he placed my hands on the button of his pants.

My hands were shaky as I struggled to open the button and undid the zipper as he trailed kisses up my jaw.

I didn't think that was part of the normal routine but at that point I didn't care. Everything Eric did to me felt amazing and it had been so long since I'd allowed myself to feel that way.

My hands trailed up the side of Eric's body and the feel of his warm, smooth skin only turned me on even more. My hands eventually wandered into Eric's hair and I surprised myself when I grabbed two handfuls and led his mouth to mine. His hair was short but still long enough to pull.

Eric's kisses started out short and sweet. Nothing more than simply brushing his lips over mine. But once he had a taste his kisses turned aggressive. He grabbed me by my hips and pulled me closer so our bodies were touching as much as possible. When he ran his tongue across my bottom lip I groaned and his tongue invaded my mouth.

We kissed heatedly and all thoughts of him being a stripper and this being his job flew out of my mind.

All of a sudden, I felt his hands tugging at my dress and I raised my arms so he could pull it off.

We broke from our kiss just long enough for him to get my dress over my head. Once it was gone, he looked down at my body.

I did too, because I couldn't remember what I was wearing. My first thought was, _Thank God my underwear match!_

Not only was I matching but I was wearing a sexy red bra with black lace overlay and matching thong panties.

"Oh, God, Sookie."

He unsnapped my bra with a flick of his wrist and slid the straps down and off of me. As soon as my breasts were bare, Eric sank down to his knees and took my right nipple into his mouth. I moaned as he firmly sucked it into his mouth and used his teeth to bite a little.

"Ugh, Eric," I gasped as he used his large hands to knead my ass. I felt Eric slide his hands to my hips and he hooked his fingers in the sides of my panties. He started to pull them down as he switched nipples.

"Is this okay?"

I only nodded as I continued to pant heavily.

Getting my affirmative, Eric wasted no time sliding my panties down my legs. I stepped out of them leaving me completely naked in front of Eric, who was still in his pants.

I grabbed his face and pulled him to stand. As soon as he was at his full height, I reached for his pants but he grabbed my hands, stopping me. "Not yet Sookie, let me take care of you."

Leading me to the bed, he nudged me until I was sitting at the foot. I scooted up until I was lying in the middle of the bed, giving Eric room to follow me. He climbed up the bed until he reached my lips. He kissed me briefly on the lips before he started trailing his kisses lower. They ran down my jaw until he came in contact with my neck. Nipping down my neck, he licked a path to my breasts and he teased each of my nipples before diving lower. In an effort to keep myself in check I threw my hands above my head and gripped the sheets.

Eric was moving so slowly, I whimpered the entire time. When he finally got to the triangle of tight curls above my core I lost control and bucked my hips up to meet his mouth.

"Slow, Sookie," Eric laughed as he tried to hold my hips down on the bed.

"Please, Eric," I begged like wanton hussy but I didn't care. I wanted Eric and I wanted him now.

He hooked my legs over his shoulders and used his thumbs to spread my lower lips. The first touch of his tongue on my swollen clit had me bucking up to meet his mouth. This time he didn't try to stop me. Instead, he released one of the hands he had used to hold my leg and thrust a finger inside of me. I yelled out at the sudden penetration.

"God Sookie, you're so tight," Eric moaned as he continued to flick my clit with his tongue and finger me. He quickly added another finger stretching me and I moaned louder.

"More, Eric, faster." He changed position and started fucking me with his tongue while he used his thumb to rub tight circles on my clit.

I came, screaming Eric's name. When I looked down, Eric was licking his fingers and I felt myself get wet again.

When he was done, he stood up at the foot of the bed. I rose up on my elbows and watched as he pulled his pants and underwear off all at once.

I swallow hard as I wondered how _that_ was supposed to fit.

I crawled to the foot of the bed and prepared to take him into my mouth when he stopped me.

"I won't last if you do that. Do you have a condom?"

I nodded my head. I got up on shaky legs and went to the bathroom medicine cabinet. On the way started second-guessing myself. I couldn't believe I was actually going to do this.

As I walked back to the bedroom and saw Eric lying in my bed I thought, _hell yeah, I'm going to do this!_

I climbed into bed next to Eric and watched as he opened the condom and rolled it down his cock.

He rolled on top of me and positioned himself at my entrance. Before he pushed any further he asked, "Are you sure about this? We don't have to go any further if you don't want to."

I looked down at his erect cock and there was no way I was letting him leave like that.

"I'm sure. Please." Eric pushed forward and I felt his head enter me. I gasped at the sudden feeling of fullness. Eric reached a hand down between our bodies and rubbed my clit to help ease himself inside of me.

Once he was fully sheathed inside of me, he didn't move so I would have time to adjust. Soon, I became impatient and started to rock my hips.

"Sookie," Eric groaned. I loved the sound of my name on his lips as he was inside me.

He started to thrust into me harder and faster.

"Wrap your legs around my waist." I did as he asked and he went deeper.

"Ungh, that feels so good."

He grabbed one of my legs from around his waist and lifted it over his shoulder letting him go even further.

I grabbed his ass and pulled him into me in an attempt to get him in even deeper.

Eric kept chanting my name into my neck as he rode me. He raised his head and kissed me gently on my forehead, nose, and then lips.

Above me, I watched as Eric's face was contorted in pleasure as he rode me to orgasm.

I wanted to keep looking at him but I couldn't. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as the pleasure became too intense. Soon my movements became jerky and my whole body spasmed with the force of my orgasm. Just like in the song, it felt like I had been paralyzed.

Just as I was coming down from my high I felt Eric swell as he finished.

Eric stayed above me, resting his weight on his elbows for a minute before he pulled out of me.

He went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and came back to the bed and laid beside me.

I instantly cuddled into his side as I thought about what to do now. He kissed my forehead and stroked my arms, relaxing me.

I then noticed it was quiet. At some point the song had ended and it sounded like the party had ended downstairs too.

Eric was so sweet and gentle and he made sure everything was right for me.

Even though we only spent one night together, I could see myself falling in love this stripper.

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**A/N:** Did you like it *bats lashes* :D


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** So it may be stupid for me to post this late but once I get a chapter back from the beta I can't wait to post it, lol.

So since this chapter is done, I'm now working on the next chapter of The Beginning of Everything. Hopefully I will have something to tease by the Monday Teaser thingy.

I have to thank my beta lover morecks87 and greenlemons, just because I love her.

Also, nothing belongs to me, everything belongs to CH, and any remaining mistakes are my own.

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I must have dozed off because I woke up to a knock at the door. I checked the clock on my bedside table and it read 2:07 a.m. I rolled over into a hard warm body. Eric. I had no idea what I was going to do about the situation. Was it a one-night stand? I hoped it wasn't because I was starting to discover that I liked him. One thing that bothered me was I had no idea if Eric slept with all of the women he was sent to dance for on his house calls. Thank God we'd had enough sense to use protection. Shit, did I make a mistake? I didn't know anything about this guy!

There was another knock on the door breaking me out of my thoughts. Who in the hell would be knocking on my door this late? Maybe someone forgot something from the party? I slid out of bed and looked down at Eric who was lying on his stomach. The blanket was barely covering his ass, and what a fine ass it was.

I heard more knocking. Right! The door. I went to my closet and grabbed my robe from the hook on the door. I threw it on and headed down the steps. On the way to the door I peeked into the other rooms of the house and they looked relatively clean. At least Amelia didn't leave me to clean up after my own party. A party I didn't want, I might add.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw Bill, my next-door neighbor and recent ex-boyfriend.

"What in the hell are you doing here knocking on my door so late?"

"Did you lose something?"

"Not unless you took something. Now get off my porch before I call the cops." Bill had been basically stalking me since we broke up. He showed up at my work, called me constantly, and stopped by my house all the time. It was starting to scare me.

"It looks like the cops are already here," he said, pointing over his shoulder.

I looked in the direction Bill was pointing and saw two men out in the yard dressed as cops. It made me think of Eric up in my room and I was glad he was the stripper. If these two had tried to strip for me, I'd have paid them to keep their clothes on.

"Bill," I said slowly, "why did you bring the cops here?"

"Oh, we're not real cops ma'am. We're the strippers hired for the party," the short pudgy one, with blonde hair, said.

"You're a little late aren't you?" I asked before I thought about what he'd just said. Then like an atomic bomb, what the implications meant hit me. If _they_ were the strippers hired for the party, then who in the hell was in my bed?

"Yeah, sorry about that. We kinda got lost and ended up finding this guy's house instead of yours. Do you still need us?" the taller, less pudgy, dark haired one asked.

"No," I answered, still stunned by what I had just learned.

"Well, we'll have our supervisor call the one who hired us to talk about the money."

"That's fine. Thank you," I replied as I turned to go back into my house. I had no idea what I was going to do about the man in my bed. I was almost through the door when Bill grabbed my arm.

"What is wrong with you? Hiring strippers? You broke up with me just so you could be a whore?"

"Bill Compton, you will remove your hand from me before I take it off. What I do is none of your business. I try to be civil with you because my gran liked you but so help me God, I will not hesitate to hit you. Now leave me alone. I don't want to see you anymore. If you come to the bar again, I'll have Sam throw you out. I don't want to see you lurking around my house. And stop calling me. Do you understand?"

Bill released my arm and I went back into the house to deal with my problem. Now that I thought about it, it might have been best if someone had come with me. I didn't regret sending Bill away, but maybe the strippers could have come with me to confront Eric. Although, given the physique of those out of shape strippers, Eric could have probably taken all three of us on. Eric, if that was even his real name, hadn't hurt me yet, but maybe that's because I played right into his hand. Once I confronted him he could go off.

After thinking about it, I realized, it would be best for me to go up with backup. I went to the hallway closet and got out my old metal bat from high school soft ball. I crept up the stairs with the bat ready for swinging.

I used the bat to push open my bedroom door and saw Eric lying in the bed with him arms extended over his head.

"Hey, who was that at the door?" After he registered what I had in my hand, he froze. "Sookie," he said wearily, "what are you doing?"

"I'll ask the questions around here, _officer_. Who are you?"

"Sookie, who was at the door? What is wrong with you?" he asked, sitting up.

"You want to know who was at the door?! I'll tell you! It was the strippers Amelia hired!"

His face paled and I knew it was true. Any doubt I wanted to hold on to was gone the moment his face paled. He wasn't a stripper. You'd think someone would be glad to hear the man they just had sex with didn't take off their clothes for money. I wasn't, because it meant he had lied to me.

"Who are you? And try being honest this time. If I think you're lying, I'll hit you in the balls so hard… it'll hurt a lot."

"Please, put the bat down and let's talk about this," Eric said as he held his hands up in surrender.

"Oh yes stranger! Let me put down the only defense I have against you, so as soon as I turn my back, you can attack and kill me."

"If I had wanted to kill you, I could have done it earlier."

"But why would you do that? I practically threw myself at you, begging you to screw me! What is wrong with me? The one time I do something completely out of character and _this_ is what happens!"

I started to pace around the room, forgetting to not turn my back on Eric. He just sat on the bed staring at me so I didn't think he was too much of a threat.

"Can you stop pacing? You're making me nervous."

"_You're_ nervous?! _You're_ not the one with a strange man in your bed, who is _way_ bigger than you. A man who lied to you and you didn't find out about it until _after_ you slept with him."

"I'm sorry about that. Listen, let me put my clothes on and then can we talk about this? It'll probably make you feel better if I have clothes on."

I didn't really have a choice. He _did_ need to get dressed and I'd rather have an explanation than him leaving without a word.

"Fine, meet me in the kitchen. You remember where that is, right?" He just nodded as he got up and grabbed his clothes. I quickly walked out of the room before I saw something that would impair my judgment.

I sat at the kitchen table for a few minutes before Eric walked in, in his uniform.

"Before we start, is your real name Eric?"

"Yes Sookie, I didn't lie to you about that."

"How in the hell am I supposed to know? I don't know anything about you!" I yelled. "Just tell me, everything. From the beginning," I said as I rubbed my eyes. I was starting to get a headache.

"Ok," Eric sighed, taking a deep breath. "You've already figured out that I'm not a stripper." I nodded, wishing he'd tell me the parts that I didn't know.

"Well, I'm a real cop," he stopped talking after he saw the look on my face.

"Wait. Why would a real cop pretend to be a stripper?" And the thought that a real cop would _lie_ about being a stripper worried me.

"My partner and I are Shreveport PD but we were told to patrol around Bon Temps because the sheriff is sick and Andy is on vacation. They didn't think Kevin and Kenya could handle the town alone."

"Not that much happens in Bon Temps."

"After working around town I'm starting to realize that. But we got a call about a noise disturbance and the complaint was about your house. I knocked, we were taken as strippers and the rest you know."

"Who would complain about the noise? The closest house is across the cemetery and Bill wouldn't have been able to hear anything from that far away..." I trailed off. That bastard Bill would've been able to hear the party if he was creeping around my house again, which I wouldn't put past him. And there is no doubt that Bill would call the cops just to spite me.

"What is it?" Eric asked as the look on my face.

"Nothing, just that, I might know who called after all."

"I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. Alcide told me to play along and I never should have listened to his dumb horny ass."

"Why did you? I'd think for being a cop, you'd know the difference between right and wrong. I shouldn't have let it get that far anyway but what would posses you to do something like that?"

"I don't know what you want me to say. I've never done anything like this before. When you opened the door, I just lost my mind. I tried to tell Amelia that we weren't strippers, and then in the kitchen, Alcide made a lot of sense at the time. Now I realize it was a mistake. I should have never slept with you when I was lying."

It wasn't entirely Eric's fault. I didn't exactly resist him. But still, he lied in the first place. I might have been okay with the fact that I'd just slept with a guy I barely knew if it wasn't for the fact that I had been lied to just so he could sleep with me.

"Speaking of my partner, where is Alcide?"

I groaned, thinking about what could have happened. Alcide wasn't here and unless he abandoned Eric to go back to Shreveport alone, he most likely went home with Amelia. She was the only one out of the group that would take home a strange man after knowing him for a few hours and sleep with him. Well, besides me, but Eric was practically thrown in my lap so that didn't count.

"He probably went home with Amelia, the girl you talked to. That or he left you."

"If there is any chance of him sleeping with your friend, then he went with her."

"Well then I guess mystery solved. Alcide is with Amelia." My declaration led to the awkward silence. I had basically just announced that Amelia was a slut, but hey, at least she was having lots of sex.

Eric didn't say anything. He just kept looking at me. I hate awkward silences so I had to say something. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know. I've never been in a situation like this before."

Well that made two of us.

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**A/N:** WHOA, what a crazy turn of events, lol.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** SURPRISE! It's me! Well, it may not be a surprise to most of you, lol.

I don't really have anything to say except thanks to my beta morecks87 and nothing belongs to me, everything belongs to CH!

Also, any remaining mistakes are my own, especially since my baby is kicking the keys as I'm doing this so there is probably something random typed somewhere, lol.

Enjoy! Hopefully... ;)

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Eric was stuck at my house for the next few hours because his partner, whose name I learned was Alcide, took the police cruiser with him when he went to Amelia's. Eric said he probably took it as a way of escaping after they had sex.

"He won't have to worry about that with Amelia. She's real casual about sex. She even has sex with girls…" As soon as it came out of my mouth I wanted to take it back. It was none of my business, and certainly none of Eric's, who Amelia slept with. The awkwardness of the situation was causing me to word vomit.

I chanced a look at Eric and he looked like he was trying not to laugh. I was mortified. I was lucky I never planned on seeing Eric again after this. If Amelia found out, she probably wouldn't have been embarrassed but I didn't think she'd appreciate me telling strange men who she had sex with.

"Well, Alcide is pretty casual about sex too but I don't know if he's ever had sex with another man."

Oh, so now he was making fun of me. "Oh, really?" I asked like I was surprised. "I kinda got the impression that y'all were casual gay lovers."

"Please, with what happened upstairs, you're the last person to think I'm gay," he said as he shot me a smirk, which I was beginning to learn he did often. Along with a little brow lift.

"It's still too early to joke about it."

"Right."

So there we sat, in silence, with our heads down… Until Eric's cell phone rang, THANK GOD! Maybe I could sneak out while he was on the phone, I didn't care if it was my house! It might not be the most polite thing to do but this was not a situation I wanted to be stuck in.

"Northman. Of course I'm still here, you took the car. No I didn't ask her to take me to Shreveport. Get your ass back here." Eric gave me a sheepish look when he remembered I could hear his conversation. It was like he didn't want me to be offended that he was eager to leave but hell, if I were any more eager for him to leave, I'd have pushed him out the door. In fact, if Gran hadn't tried so hard to instill manners in me…

"Sookie?"

"Yes!" I yelled, startled as he broke me out of my daydream of kicking him out my door.

"Er, that was Alcide. He's a little preoccupied and just wanted to call to see… how things were going." I was really starting to not like Alcide. "He said Amelia thought it'd be okay for me to sleep here tonight. Now normally I wouldn't ask!" he hurried to finish, "But Bon Temps isn't exactly full of hotels and Shreveport is an hour away. I also doubt Bon Temps has a fleet of taxis just hanging around. And really, I'm tired. I worked a long shift and I just want to go to sleep after the mess this day has turned out to be."

I know he didn't mean it the way it sounded, but I was offended! _I _was not a mess. _HE_ was the mess. _HE_ was the one seducing women with his uniform, and hair. And abs. And smirk. And, eye brow lift.

Yeah, he's the one to blame! Not little ol' me. What woman could tell that man no. I mean, he just showed up at my door practically begging for it… _Denial much_? NO! Why don't you stay out of it!

Oh my gosh! I'm talking to myself and Eric is staring at me like I'm crazy. Lovely.

"What were we talking about?"

"I wanted to know if I could spend the night even though I have no right to ask."

"Oh. Well. Um. You wouldn't be staying in my bed."

"I know. I have no plans of ever going back to your bedroom." Oh wow. That man sure had a way with words.

"I know you don't mean it the way it sounds, so I'm going to let it go, but you need to work on your tact a bit."

"It's not that I don't want to sleep with you again. Before you came up with that bat, I was pretty sure we were going to go another round. It's just that, under the circumstances, it wouldn't be appropriate."

"It wasn't appropriate the first time," I said through gritted teeth. He was really testing my patience.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you. Can I stay here for the remaining hours of the night or do you want me to leave? After tonight, you'll never have to see me again."

Even though he was annoying me and we were in a mess of a situation, it sent a little pang to my chest to hear I would never see him again. I should be glad to move on and get all of this behind me. But for some reason, the thought of never seeing Eric again made me sad. Yeah, he lied to me about being a stripper. Well, he didn't really lie, he just kind of went along with what Amelia had assumed. Still, it was wrong to sleep with someone under false pretenses. I looked into Eric's expectant face and knew that if this was the last time I would be seeing him, I could at least make it so that he thought well of me.

"You can stay here. You'll have to sleep on the couch though."

"It's okay. I'm not picky. I could fall asleep anywhere."

I led Eric into the living room to sleep on the couch. I had a guest bedroom in my house but it was too close to my bedroom for comfort, and there was no way in hell he was sleeping in my bed again. He was so lucky someone had cleaned it up after the party because he was sleeping on the couch no matter what.

"I'll go get you some blankets and a pillow."

"You don't have to. This is fine."

"No, you're my guest," an uninvited one but still a guest, "I'll just go get you those blankets."

I went to the hall closet and by the time I returned with the extra pillow and blankets he was already asleep on the couch with his long legs hanging over the side.

I went over and lifted his head to put the pillow under it. He didn't wake up as I slipped the pillow under his head. Next I covered him up with an old quilt that didn't even cover his entire body.

Before I went upstairs, I just looked at him. He really was gorgeous. His blonde hair was still messy from… earlier. His strong jaw covered with slight stubble. His muscular arms folded up under his head like a child.

I hurried upstairs before he woke up and saw me staring at him like a stalker. I washed my face and brushed all the tangles out of my hair. And believe me, it was tangled. Then I put on my old comfy flannel pajamas and climbed into bed.

I couldn't go to sleep right away. My bed smelled like him. I slid closer to "his" side of the bed and curled up with the pillow he had slept on.

I kept thinking about him sleeping on my couch in the living room. It'd be so easy just to go down the stairs and ask him to come back to my bed.

I didn't. Instead, I went to sleep and dreamt of a gorgeous cop knocking on my door…

Eric POV

"I can sleep anywhere" my ass. Apparently I can't sleep on Sookie's couch. When Sookie went to get the blankets I sat on the couch and I must have laid down and dozed off because I woke up as she was putting a pillow under my head. Being in the military when I was younger made me a light sleeper.

I didn't hear anything after she walked away so I thought she had left. I was about to open my eyes to make sure I was alone when I heard her move. What was she doing? After another minute of silence, I finally heard her going up the stairs.

As soon as I was sure she was gone, I rolled over onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I could hear her in the upstairs bathroom. Sookie. What was I going to do about Sookie?

From the moment I first saw her, I knew that I wanted her. And now that I'd had her? I wanted more.

It would be so easy for me to go upstairs and slip into bed with her.

But I didn't. Instead I had a miserable night of sleep on a couch too small for me, covered in a ratty old quilt, thinking of a girl I could never have sleeping just a few feet away.

I woke up when I heard pots clanking in the kitchen. I could smell coffee brewing and I immediately got up to find the source.

I didn't open my eyes until I was already in motion and realized I wasn't at home. It wasn't until I saw the quilt lying on the floor that I comprehended where I was. I quickly picked it up and threw it on the couch on my way into the kitchen.

Sookie was reaching up, trying to get a pan out of the upper cabinets. There was another pan stacked on top of the one she was trying to get and it was close to falling out of the cabinet.

"Wait! I'll get it for you!"

It probably wasn't the best idea to yell at her because when I did, she let go of the pot and they all started falling down.

I ran across the kitchen as fast as I could to make it to Sookie before the pans fell on her. I made it to her just in time. I covered her body with my own and all of the pots and pans fell on my back instead of her head. It hurt like a bitch.

"Oh my God Eric! Are you okay?"

I tried to stand up straight to check on Sookie but as soon as I tried, I knew it was a mistake.

"Owoh yeah. I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"Thanks to you, not a single thing hit me," she beamed at me.

"It's not a big deal. I'm sure my back could take the hit better than your head."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, I promise."

As soon as I tried to move I winced and she saw it. So much for being the invincible hero.

"Let me see your back. There could be something wrong."

I reluctantly let her rise up the back of my shirt to look at my back.

"Oh Eric! Your whole back is red and looks a little swollen!"

Well shit.

"It's fine. Really, Sookie."

"At least let me put some ice on it. This is all my fault."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have startled you."

"Go lay face down on the couch. You're not going to win this argument," she said with her hand on her hip.

I went and did as Sookie said while she got the ice pack ready.

"Here," she said as she laid a cold pack on my back. "Keep this on here until I get breakfast ready. I'll come and take it back off when it's time to eat."

I lay there like a human Popsicle for about 20 minutes until Sookie came back to get me.

"I hope you're hungry. I made eggs, pancakes, French toast, biscuits, sausage, and bacon."

"How much do you think I eat?"

"I woke up early this morning and I needed something to do so I started making breakfast. Besides, I didn't know what you'd like."

I could still see the sack of flour and other random ingredients on the counter and I knew she had made it all from scratch. How early did she wake up?

I ate until I couldn't fit another bite in me. There was still a lot of food left over.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure my brother will be by sometime today. He'll eat it."

Before I had time to excuse myself to call Alcide, I heard someone honking a horn out front. I limped behind Sookie to the front door to find Alcide outside in the cruiser.

"Come on Eric! Hurry up! Debbie's been ringing my phone off the hook and she's threatening to tear my shit up if she finds out I didn't stay at my apartment last night."

"Sorry. Debbie's his on again-off again girlfriend. They always do this," I said embarrassed.

"It's fine. I guess you'll be leaving?"

"Yeah. Sorry I can't stay to help you clean up. And about what happened," I said as I walked into the living room to get my shoes.

"Forget it Eric. It's not a big deal. It was a mistake and we're just going to forget about it. It was nice to meet you Eric Northman," she said as she stuck her hand out at me.

"Nice to meet you Sookie… You know, I never got your last name."

"That's the mystery of a one-night stand," she said as she smirked at me. "Good bye Eric."

"Bye."

She left me in the living room while she went back into the kitchen. I got my shoes on without causing myself too much pain. I tried to hide my limp as much as possible while making it to the cruiser.

"Damn Eric. What'd she do? Break you?"

"You're not funny you ass. Some pots fell on me this morning when she was making breakfast."

"She made you breakfast? The most I got from Amelia was morning sex."

"Let's not talk about it. Now come on before Debbie makes it to your apartment."

"Nah, she's not really coming. I was just trying to help you make a quick get away."

"You idiot! She probably thinks we're nuts!"

"What's it matter? You're never going to see her again."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

I didn't answer him as he drove down Sookie's driveway. I looked in the rear view mirror to watch her house disappear out of view. I could have sworn I saw a face in the woods by her house, but when I looked again it was gone.

I shook my head to clear it.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just drive us back home."

That was the last time I ever planned on seeing Sookie again. I discovered I didn't like the feeling.

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**A/N:** So... what'd ya think...

As usual, I have to update BOE before I update this again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I'm back! To those of you who PMed me, you already know that I've had some technical difficulties. Right after I posted BOE the charger to my laptop broke and I didn't have enough money to buy a new one. Fast forward months later, my mom surprised me with a new charger but it didn't quite fit my laptop so it kept cutting off. Fast forward to today and my mom got me another charger and this one actually fits! So now I'm posting. It only took me a few hours to finish the chapter, send it to the beta, her to send it back, me to fix it, reply to all my reviews, and to post it!

Phew!

So anyway, I have to thank my beta beast morecks87 for betaing this chapter in 36 minutes!

CH owns everything, I own nothing.

All remaining mistakes are my own.

And I also want to thank all of my readers who have stuck with me through all of my posting difficulties. You guys are the best!

* * *

I told Eric I got up early to make breakfast but I actually got up so early it was like I never even went to sleep. I tiptoed down the stairs so I wouldn't wake Eric up. I either cook or clean whenever I don't know what to do with myself so when I couldn't sleep, I went and cooked.

When Eric was leaving, I went into the kitchen to clean up from breakfast. For some reason, watching him leave was hard.

As soon as I heard the car pull away, I went back out into the living room to watch him drive off. He was a cop, he was gorgeous, and the sex was great, and I let him go… _Real smart Sook! Just wait until Amelia hears!_ AMELIA! I was NOT telling Amelia about this. But what if she already knew?! What if Alcide told her? Did Eric tell Alcide?

The knock on the door made me jump. It was too early for Jason and Amelia never got out of bed before noon, if she could help it.

I went to the door and opened it. I could have kicked myself in the ass for not seeing whom it was before I opened the door.

"Who was that, Sookie!?"

"Bill," I said in a bored tone. I was really getting tired of him stopping by.

"Who was that man leaving your house? How long has he been here? I didn't see anyone come by this morning!"

"Bill Compton, that is none of your damn business. Don't you ever come to my house questioning me again!"

I slammed the door in his face and locked it so he couldn't come in. Whenever we used to fight and I shut the door in his face, he was dumb enough to open it right back up. I learned to lock the doors when I fight with Bill. I turned to go back up to my room to shower. A shower always makes me feel better.

I was climbing the first step when I heard Bill punch the door and say, "I will never leave you alone! You are mine! You will not have other men at your house! Do you hear me!?"

I was so stunned I just stood at the bottom step while he screamed at me through the door. After he was done he stomped off my porch, mumbling.

I never felt this way with Bill before, but I was actually scared. He was never violent and he never talked to me that way. Not even when we were together. I didn't want to overact and call the police so I called Amelia instead.

"This better be an emergency. You know I don't get up this early Sook."

"Amelia," I whispered. I didn't know if Bill was still outside or not. "Bill just came to my house. He's been watching me again. He saw Eric leave."

"First of all, why are you whispering? Secondly, that's good. Maybe if he sees another man around he'll finally leave you alone and realize you're not getting back together with him."

"He didn't sound like he was going to leave me alone!" I yelled, annoyed. "In fact, he said he would never leave me alone."

"I wouldn't get too worked up over it, Sook. Bill was always a bit of a nut case."

"That's news to me!"

"I tried to tell you, Sook. We all did. You were too in love to see his flaws. Remember last year when Sam said someone tried to attack him when he was going to his trailer after he closed? We all thought it was Bill. You should have seen the look on Bill's face when Sam hugged you that night when you found out Gran was in the hospital. And where did Bill go after he dropped you off at the hospital?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly!"

"But we don't know Bill attacked Sam for sure."

"Stop making excuses for him! Even if it was dark Sam described his attacker and it fit Bill's description. And Bill had a reason to do it. He was jealous. He's always been jealous."

"He wasn't that bad, Ames."

"He never let you leave the house without him! You had a fucking curfew Sookie! Why can't you see this? You were miserable with him. If it was so great, why did you break up with him?"

I knew Amelia was right but it was hard to admit that I had spent four years of my life with someone that turned out to be so wrong for me. "Bill was getting too clingy. I needed some time to myself after Gran died," I said, trying to make excuses for myself. "But now that we've been apart, I know he wasn't perfect. And the way he's been acting since I left him, there's no way in hell I'd ever take him back. I might have been dumb while I was with him but looking back on it, I know that there was something wrong with our relationship."

"He's always been unstable, Sookie. And now that you've broken up with him and he sees a new man around…"

"What do you think he'll do to me since he's acting like this?"

"He's never physically done anything to you before, has he?"

"He's never seen me with another man before."

"That's true." She paused, "When is Eric coming back?"

"He's not."

"Well, why not? I saw how hot he was last night. Thank God the cops showed up when they did. If we had to watch the strippers I hired, I would have gagged! But maybe someone would have liked it? At least it might have been funny. But what can you do? You live in a backwater town like Bon Temps, you take what you can get!"

It took me about five seconds to process what Amelia just said.

"You knew Eric and Alcide weren't the strippers!?"

"Duh! Have you ever seen strippers that hot anywhere near Bon Temps? I hired them, of course I knew what they looked like. You're just lucky I get what I want. Who thought I could get actual cops to strip for us? And it wasn't even that hard!" She laughed into the phone.

"Amelia Broadway!"

"Oh, don't sound so high and mighty Sookie Stackhouse. You had sex with him! Just think, if I hadn't gotten those hot cops to play the part of strippers, you wouldn't have been boned last night."

"Oh my Gosh! How could you?"

"You had hot sex didn't you? Or was it sex? It's too soon in your relationship to make love… Did you fuck? Was he aggressive?"

"I'm not talking with you about this! Besides, sex, making love, and fucking all mean the same thing."

"You are so naïve, Sook. Making love is like slow, looking into each other's eyes, meaningful, caring more about your partner getting off than yourself, sex. Sex is basic humping, a moan here or there, some basic touching and rubbing, nothing fancy. Fucking, which is what me and Alcide did last night and all morning by the way, is sweaty, on the floor, throwing you up against the wall, hair pulling, bent over the couch, fucking. And it's the best of the three for sure."

"Well, when you put it that way… I wasn't on the floor, up against the wall or thrown over the couch so we didn't fuck. And we definitely didn't make love, what we had was a one-night stand, not a relationship. I guess we just had basic sex."

"You are totally missing out Sookie. And what do you mean, 'what we had was a one night stand, not a relationship.' Alcide and I exchanged phone numbers and after last night, he's an official fuck buddy."

"Well, before they left I heard Alcide tell Eric that his crazy girlfriend Debbie was probably at his house again. How do you feel about that?"

"Being the other woman is hot, Sook. You have to sneak around so the girlfriend or wife won't find out. You can have dirty sex because he's not coming to you to be the mother of his children, he's coming to you to get off."

"Oh, you are disgusting, Amelia."

"Only when they ask me to be," she retorted with a smile in her voice.

Even though I was bantering with Amelia, I couldn't get Eric off my mind. "What do you think Eric is doing right now?"

"Masturbating? I don't know what boys do."

"Ugh, does it always have to be about sex with you?"

"I know. You'd think after the night I had I'd be all fucked out but apparently not… I wonder if Alcide dealt with that girl problem yet, I'm feeling frisky."

"OK, well, while you contemplate that, I'm going to figure out what to do about Bill on my own. Talk to you later, Ames!" I said and hung up before she could reply.

I could always call Jason and tell him what was going on. He would confront Bill, no doubt about it, but was that really for the best? I didn't want my brother in jail. He would probably offer to stay with me until Bill gave up, but did I really want my dirty, free loading brother staying with me? Not to mention the fact that he can't stay away from women and I didn't want him bringing any of those women here. I could call Sam but he always hated Bill and would completely blow things out of proportion. Considering how much Bill hated Sam, that might just make it worse. Amelia was right. Bill was always jealous, especially of Sam. Besides, if Bill really was crazy and Sam got hurt, I would feel guilty.

I went upstairs to shower to clear my head before I decided what I was going to do. I walked past my bed and remembered Eric and me in it the night before.

I hurried to the shower before I started to mope and took my time. It felt like I was washing Eric from my body and I hated it, but what was I suppose to do, not shower?

By the time I made it out I found that I had been in there for an hour. But at least I had decided what I was going to do. I was going to call the police and ask them what I should do. They should know more about this stuff than me and besides, it didn't matter if I knew Bill or not. He wasn't acting like himself and I wasn't going to take any chances. If he was the one that attacked Sam, he could be dangerous. Sam had been beaten up pretty bad.

I dressed in my Cookie-Monster bed shirt, even though it was still early, and sat on my bed to call the police.

"Shreveport Police Station. How may we help you?"

"Oh. I'm sorry, I meant to call the Bon Temps Police Station." How could I have called Shreveport instead?

"Some of Bon Temps' calls are being forwarded here to help with the decrease in man power. What can I do for you?"

"I just have a question." This was even better because this woman doesn't know who I was. If I had called Bon Temps Kevin and Kenya would have been able to recognize me by my voice. "Someone has been creeping around my house and has threatened me. What can I do about that?"

"You can file a restraining order but unless he physically does anything to you we technically can't do anything about it."

"How is a piece of paper going to help me? What am I going to do, throw it at him? Give him a paper cut?"

"I know it's not much but our hands are tied. Having the restraining order will allow him to be arrested if he doesn't follow the requirements and it'll be on file so if anything ever happens, it'll help you press charges."

"OK, if that's the best I can do then I'd like to do that."

"What is your name?"

"Sookie Stackhouse."

"I'll alert the closest officer in your area and they'll be over to make the report."

"Don't I usually go to the police station to file something like that?"

"Normally but we can make an exception in this case since we already have an officer in the area."

"Thank you." I hung up the phone and realized I had forgotten to give the dispatcher my address but then I figured they might have been able to trace my call through my phone number. I ran downstairs to make sure it was clean before the officer came. There wasn't much to be done so it only took me about 15 minutes to vacuum and straighten up the couch from where Eric had slept.

No sooner had I put the vacuum away did I hear a knock on the door. I went to peek to see whom it was before I ran upstairs to dress. I was so shocked at who I saw that I didn't even think. I just opened the door in nothing but my Cookie-Monster sleep shirt.

"So, your last name is Stackhouse. Why do you need a restraining order?"

Eric.

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**A/N: **I really hope you guys like it!

I didn't send a teaser this time because I figured by the time most of you got the teaser I would have already have posted the chapter.

And even though it may take me, sometimes months to post, I won't stop writing my stories until they are finished so you guys don't have to worry about that.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I wasn't gone too long was I? If I was, hopefully this will make up for it. It's the longest chapter I have ever written! 9,117 words, without the A/N. I am so proud of myself, lol.

I was going to post last night but I figured by the time I got around to it, no one would even see it. Plus I added almost 1,000 words editing it today. AND... I keep trying to upload it but FF won't let me. Now I see what everyone else was talking about -_- Sorry about the delay guys! I'm trying! (Not that you'll be able to see this until it's already posted...)

I hope you guys like it! Also, this is my last day of spring break *cries* I have to start classes back on Monday. I have SO much left to do to get ready!

Anyway! I already have 1,400 words written for BOE, if you guys read that too. It's easier to find time to write since I have my iPod and I don't have to sneak time on my lappy.

Thanks to Missus_T who helped me figure out a way to add this chapter! Ironic since this story was orignially a one-shot for her birthday, lol.

Thanks to morecks87 who beta-ed this monster. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

And all the characters belong to CH, I just like to play with them ;)

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I could tell that Sookie was shocked that it was me at her door. She just stood there gaping at me. Kind of like a fish out of water.

"Eric? What are you doing here?"

"You called the police requesting a restraining order. And last night we established that I am a police officer…"

When I finally got a look at her, I realized that she was only wearing a sleep shirt with a picture of the Cookie-Monster on the front. It came to just below the tops of her smooth, tan thighs. She must have been so shocked at seeing me, that she didn't even realize she barely had any clothes on.

"Yeah, I know what happened last night. I meant what are YOU doing here? Surely there are other police officers on the force other than you."

"I'll try not to take that personally. I had a shift this morning and since I was kind of busy last night, I never went home. I was in the area when dispatch called."

That was a complete and total lie. First of all, this was the start of my week vacation from work work. Months ago I had scheduled a vacation with my then girlfriend, Felicia. When we broke up a few weeks ago, I wasn't able to take the request back. So I was now stuck with a week off of work with nothing to do.

And what really happened this morning is, after Alcide picked me up, we went to the station and got bitched at for having the cruiser out all night.

Then, before I started home, I stopped at dispatch and gave them Sookie's address. I told them if they ever got a call for that address, to call me first, unless it was an emergency. I was on my way home when someone called me and told me that a "Sookie Stackhouse" was requesting a restraining order. I finally got her last name.

Thank God the girls in dispatch love me because they told Sookie an officer would come to her instead of her driving to the station.

I had to drive like a bat out a hell back to the station to get the forms, and then back over to Bon Temps to get to Sookie's house.

With all of the rushing, I hadn't processed the whole reason she called the cops in the first place. She needed a restraining order?

"Can I come in? Then we'll talk about this restraining order."

"Okay," she said hesitantly before looking around and turning back to go into the house.

At that moment, it the crossed my mind that maybe she thought she needed protection against me? And even if she didn't and she had another stalker, not that I was a stalker, how did it make me look. After one night of, apparently, meaningless sex, I pop up at her door just a few hours after leaving?

"Sookie, if you'd feel more comfortable, we can do this outside." I made no mention of her state of undress. I wanted to see if she was trying to tease me, or if she was really unaware of what she was wearing.

"Oh no! Inside is fine. Please, have a seat."

"You just seem nervous." And it was not because she was half naked. This was not the Sookie I left this morning. Something had happened between then and now and I wanted to know what the fuck it was.

It made me think twice about that face in the woods. Maybe someone really was there?

I sat on the couch and she sat in the chair across from me. I could tell exactly the moment she realized what she was wearing. Her mouth formed a little O and her face blushed bright red. When she sat, the shirt rode higher up her thighs and she tried to discreetly pull it down.

"Would you feel more comfortable if you put on some shorts?" I smirked. I wasn't going to encourage her to put on pants, but to be honest, the thought of her sitting across from me in nothing but a short sleep shirt and panties made it hard for me to focus. In fact, it made me just plain hard. Not to mention the fact that the damn shirt was so short that it was barely covering her hips.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Sookie POV

Oh God. Eric again! Just what I needed when I have a psychopathic ex stalking me. How in the hell was I going to explain to him that I need a restraining order? Men are scared away from a woman when they have baggage. And Bill was definitely baggage. Not that I cared if it scared Eric. I had no intentions of having any kind of relationship with him anyway.

Besides, this was Eric's job. I was telling a cop about my stalker, not a potential boyfriend. With that in mind, I started to tell him about Bill. As I sat down, I felt a draft. I suddenly became aware of what I was wearing. I tried to pull it down without drawing too much attention to myself, but Eric caught me.

"Would you feel more comfortable if you put some shorts on?"

I didn't want him to think that he threw me off guard so I replied, "Why would I do that? I know what I have on and I have known it this whole time."

"Riiiiight."

"If YOU feel uncomfortable, you can always look away. You don't have to stare like if you looked any harder, you'd be able to see through my shirt."

"I am NOT doing that."

"Are too!"

"Not."

"I am not arguing with you like a child. I'm a mature adult."

"So says the girl in the Cookie-Monster shirt." Out of impulse I stuck my tongue out at him.

He bursted out laughing and I found myself smiling as well.

When he sobered, I told him about Bill and everything that had been happening since we broke up.

"And so you see, when he saw you leave my house this morning, it really set him off," I finished.

I could see the emotions on his face as I told him about Bill. He looked pissed off and it was a little scary. I would not want to be a criminal with Eric on the force. When I looked at his hands, they were clinched into fists. When I told him that it had gotten worse since Bill saw him, he looked guilty. He had no reason to feel guilty. It wasn't his fault.

"Shit Sookie. When I knocked on your door last night I had no idea it was going to turn into this big of a mess."

After just spilling my guts to him, that was not the kind of thing I wanted to hear. I was already afraid of what he would think about me after hearing my story and it looked like I had my answer. Apparently I was a mess.

"When I started going out with Bill I had no idea it was going to be a big mess either!" I said, trying to defend myself against what must have been going through Eric's head. "It's not my fault Bill stalks me." And there went my insecurities talking. In the beginning I wondered if it was something I had done to make Bill treat me this way. The same way I thought it was something I had done during our relationship to make him give me a curfew. I knew deep down this was not my fault, but it was hard to break a way of thinking you've lived with for years.

"And I know I took part in sleeping with you last night," I continued, "but YOU are the one that lied to me. None of this is my fault so don't you dare sit there and act like it is. If you had done your job last night instead of being a fucking pervert and lying about who you were so you could have sex with me, none of this would have happened. You wished you hadn't knocked on my door? Well I wish I had never gotten involved with any of you assholes! How about instead of judging me, you do your job and just fill out that damn piece of paper that's supposed to keep me safe from a psycho?" I was so embarrassed when I felt tears well up in my eyes. Everything that had happened last night and today was starting to build up and I felt like the pressure was crushing me. I knew I was taking out all of my aggression on Eric and I felt bad about it. But the truth was, I also felt a little better. I was tired of being pushed around by men. When I left Bill, I changed. I became a stronger woman and I was going to be damned if Eric was going to turn me into the intimidated girl I used to be.

"Sookie, I..."

"Unless it has something to do with the restraining order, I don't want to hear it, Officer Northman." I purposefully used a professional tone and referred to his job to let him know this was not a personal call. I just wanted help from my crazy ex and I didn't want to look into Eric's eyes and see that he was judging me. I've had enough of people judging me because of my relationship with Bill. I broke up with him but it wasn't enough. I was still being criticized for dating someone that turned out to be mentally unstable.

Eric just stared at me for a second before he nodded and continued in a much more formal tone.

"Ms. Stackhouse, I just need to ask you some questions for the forms and then I have to file them."

"Just get on with it."

He asked me basic questions like my name, address, and phone number. Then we got more detailed about my dealings with Bill.

After he was done asking me questions, he just sat there on my couch with his head down.

"Sookie, I am so sorry this is happening to you. And no matter how bizarre our relationship is, I will figure out a way to keep you safe." He said it with such determination, I believed him. It softened my heart a little to see him so determined to keep me safe. Then I reminded myself that it was his job. I was just another case.

"Is there anything else you need Officer Northman?" I asked, returning acting formal.

He finally looked at me. "No, Sookie. But I am going to warn you. I saw someone in your woods this morning when I was leaving from us having SEX," he emphasized, like I had forgotten it happened. "He's bold. Keep your doors and windows locked. If you have anyone to stay with you, get them here. And off the record, I'd get a gun. And don't go out after dark. It would probably be better if you just found somewhere else to stay until this is resolved."

"I appreciate your advice but I'm not going to uproot my life because of him. This is where I grew up. What if he does something to the house while I'm gone?"

"Better the house than you."

"I'll figure something out."

"If you won't leave, at least get some cameras. Pictures or video go a long way when you have to prove he violated that restraining order."

"Thanks for the advice."

I stood, with as much dignity as possible in my Cookie-Monster shirt, making it clear that I was ready for him to leave. His gaze ran heatedly over my body and I shivered.

I hated that what we shared last night had diminished but he never should have said he wished he had never knocked on my door. No matter how twisted the whole situation was, I didn't regret what had happened between us, until right now.

"I'll show you out."

"I know the damn way out, Sookie."

He stalked to the door and I followed to lock the door behind him.

When he got to the door, he stopped with his hand on the knob.

"I didn't mean it how it sounded and you know it. You were the one who treated it like a one-night stand by not telling me your last name. I only meant that if being with you has caused you so much grief... I don't want that."

He opened the door and I was so flustered by what he said I blurted, "Isn't that what it was? A one-night stand, I mean."

"Not by my choice," he replied before he strode out the door to his car.

I stood there for a moment before I shut the door and locked it.

Just yesterday everything was fine. Even though Bill came around he was never hostile or violent. And I didn't have to deal with a mess of emotions I felt for a man I had spent one night with.

It was still early but I felt exhausted. I didn't have to work today so I decided to take a nap. I texted Jason and told him not to bother coming over. I had already thrown out the left over food from breakfast anyway.

Before I went upstairs, I took Eric's advice and locked every door and window, which was a crime in Louisiana in the middle of summer. I was sweating by the time I locked the back door. I went to my room with a glass of ice water and stripped off my Cookie-Monster shirt until I was left in my bra and panties.

I laid on top of my covers with the ceiling fan on high. I left the windows on the top floor open because I figured there was no way Bill could get into those windows.

I thought about what Eric had said about my shirt. It was cool to have a Cookie-Monster shirt. Especially when your name was Sookie.

I laid in bed like that for an hour. I should have fallen asleep as soon as I hit the bed. I had been up practically all night, and with all the stress, I was doubly tired. But I just couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I thought I heard something.

Every time I thought I heard something I would shoot straight up in bed frightened that it was Bill trying to break into my house because he was mad at seeing Eric again.

Even though I thought it was crazy, I realized that I was scared. The fear was making me paranoid and every noise I heard made me think Bill was coming to get me. When I first met Bill at Merlotte's, I never thought that there would be a day that I would be scared of him.

Realizing that I wouldn't be able to get any sleep, I decided to go to Merlotte's. I didn't feel like being alone and Merlotte's was like my second home.

I normally wore sundresses and sandals in the summer but I had the urge to dress in a t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. You never knew when you'd have to out run someone and it bothered me that I had to think that way.

I made sure I had my keys and cell phone in hand before I opened the door. I had the bottom lock locked before I even shut the door to save me time. When I shut the door behind me I locked the dead bolt as fast as I could and made a mad dash to my car.

I threw the door open, hopped in and had the door locked before I even had the door shut.

I was sweaty and out of breathe, but I made it to the car so I was okay with the fact that if anyone saw me, I would look like a fool. Then I realized the only person who would be looking at me was Bill.

Creeped out to the max, I stuck my key into the ignition and started my car. It stalled for a second, which scared me to death, but the engine finally turned over.

Just as I put the car into drive, Bill came out of the woods yelling at me, "Sookie! You little bitch! I saw him here again! What in the fuck do you think you're doing?"

I floored it down my long driveway towards Hummingbird Lane. I didn't know if this counted as him violating the restraining order since I had just filed it and I realized I didn't have a way to prove he was there anyway. Eric was right, I at least needed some cameras.

I caught movement in my rear view mirror. It looked like Bill stepping back into the woods between our houses with a murderous look on his face. Didn't he ever stop?

Even though I was more freaked out than ever, I checked the mailbox before I headed out. I guess out of habit. It was too early for the mail.

As I headed over to Merlotte's, I debated about whether or not I should tell Sam about the problems I was having with Bill.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I decided that it was in my best interest to tell Sam. On one hand, he was my boss and he needed to know that Bill needed to stay away from the bar as long as I was there. On the other hand, Sam was one of my best friends and I needed all the support I could get.

With my resolve set, I marched into the front door of Merlotte's ready to spill everything to Sam. When I saw Alcide sitting in one of the booths I nearly high tailed it back to my house where I was being watched by a psychopathic stalker.

I assumed Eric would be with him but I felt, relief? Disappointment? when I saw he was sitting with Amelia.

Not wanting to open that can of worms, I headed straight for Sam who was manning the bar.

"Hey, Sam," I beamed.

"Hey, Sooks. What's wrong? Can't keep you away even when you don't have to work?" he smirked at me.

"Actually, there's something I have to talk to you about. Can we talk in your office?"

"What's wrong, Sookie?" he said with all hint of his earlier playfulness gone.

"Let's wait until we get in your office."

"Come on," he said leading me to his office. As soon as the door was shut he bombarded me with questions.

"Is it serious? Do you need time off? Is it anything I can help you with? Just tell me what you need and I'll do anything I can. You know..."

"Sam! Give me a second to explain! Geez!"

"I'm sorry but your tone of voice and the look on your face made me so damn nervous."

"This is hard for me to say so please just let me get this all out before you say anything."

"You're quitting, aren't you?"

I gave him a death glare.

"Alright. Don't you look at me like that. I'll keep shut."

"Thank you."

I wasn't quite sure how to tell Sam Bill snapped because Amelia hired strippers for my party and I ended up sleeping with one, who turned out to be a cop. I told a few white lies while adding in the facts he actually needed to know.

"Amelia had a birthday party for me last night and she invited a few guys over."

"I wasn't invited," he interrupted.

"You know, Amelia never really liked you," I blurted trying to cover my lies. Sam looked at me with wide eyes. "I mean, it was only a few people, mostly girls, Amelia organized it, I didn't even know about it, it was all just a big surprise to me, if I had known I would have told her to invite you, but as I said, it was a surprise party so, in accordance to the rules of a surprise party, I had no clue it was being thrown..." I rambled.

"Just continue, Sookie. Amelia hired strippers. What does this have to do with why you're acting so freaked out?"

"How did you..."

"How did I know she hired strippers?"

"Uh huh," I nodded.

"I know Amelia. Of course she hired strippers. And if I had any doubt, you're rambling and blushing was a dead giveaway."

"Well I'm an adult. I have seen a penis before," I retorted.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sam said looking sick. "I always hated that asshole whose 'penis' you saw. Let's not speak of the devil less he might show up." Little did Sam know I had really Eric's penis in mind when I said it.

But knowing Sam meant Bill, I said, "Actually, Bill's what I need to talk to you about."

"What'd he do this time? Jump someone else?"

"Not that I know of," I mumbled.

"The fact that you didn't just defend him tells me something's wrong. What did he do to you?" he demanded as he jumped up from his desk.

It was now or never.

"He's been stalking me. Watching my house and approaching me. He saw the strippers and it set him off. He came by my house last night. And today he threatened me. I got so scared I called the cops but the only thing they said I could do was get a restraining order. I took one out on him today and I came by to tell you so when I come back to work you know to kick him out if he shows up."

"Sook..."

"And I'm scared, Sam. I'm really fucking scared. I've never seen him this way and it scares me to death," I rushed out before I lost my courage.

It took me a lot to admit there was something I was scared of or something that I couldn't handle on my own.

"What did the police say?"

"They just said that if I continue staying in the house, that I should get cameras installed so I'll have proof when he violates the restraining order."

"And when are you getting those installed?"

I smiled. Sam knew I wouldn't leave my house.

"As soon as I get some money saved. I'll need to buy the cameras, and then pay somebody to put them up," I answered.

"No offense, Sook, but that could take a while. You wouldn't let me get you anything for your birthday but how about I get you some cameras and put them up? I put up the ones around Merlotte's."

"I can't ask you to do that," I said embarrassed. I hated people doing favors for me.

"You didn't ask, I offered. And I'm not taking no for an answer. This is your life we're talking about. I know what Bill can do first hand and I'm not letting anything happen to you."

"Thanks, Sam," I said, giving him a hug.

"No problem, Cher. I'll let Terry close up and be over in a few hours, okay? I still have a few things I need to do here."

"Sure, Sam. No problem. I'll be there. Just come by when you're ready."

"Will you be okay at home alone?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Bill has been scaring me and I don't think he'll hurt me." Yet, I silently added. At least I hoped he wouldn't. Sam looked unsure too so I said, "Besides, it's only going to be a few hours and I haven't done anything else to piss him off lately," I tried to joke.

"Besides getting a restraining order on him you mean?"

"It'll be fine." I was already nervous enough. I didn't need him to remind me of how Bill would react when he realized I got a restraining order on him. I saw how he reacted this morning when he saw Eric again. If he thought I got a restraining order on him and had a new man, I don't even want to know how he would act.

"I'm just worried about you."

"I know. I'm worried about me too. I don't need a reminder about Bill. I just thought you should know."

"Well I'm glad you told me."

"And Sam, could you promise not to tell Jason? I don't want him to do anything to get himself into trouble."

"Sook," he groaned.

"Please, Sam. You know how he'll react. I can't deal with a stalker and my only brother in jail."

"Alright, but you gotta tell him eventually."

"I will. Just not right now."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Cher. I'll see you in a few hours?"

"See you in a few hours."

I headed back out to the bar to tell Amelia about everything that has happened since I talked to her on the phone this morning. I had decided that Sam and Amelia were the only two people I was going to tell. Well, besides Eric. I didn't want to worry more people than I had to and Amelia always liked to pop up at my house unannounced. I didn't want Bill to do something to her to get back at me.

When I looked toward the booth she had been in with Alcide, it was empty. I would just have to call and tell her later. Lord knew what they are doing right now. They probably only surfaced for food because Amelia can't cook.

With nothing else to do, I decided to head back home and wait for Sam. I didn't want to hang around the bar all day looking pathetic.

On the way home I stopped at Wal-Mart and picked up some mace. I needed some kind of protection and a gun was a little over kill at this point.

I turned off the ignition and debated about whether or not I should lock my car doors. On one hand, if I locked them, it would take more time to get in the car. On the other, if I left them unlocked, Bill might mess with my car to get back at me. Without a car I'd really be in trouble. Plus with the new mace, I could buy myself some time if he ever came at me like he did this morning. I decided I was going to lock my doors and hoped I wouldn't have to plan out every detail like that just to avoid Bill.

I opened my door, threw the locks, and made a dead run for the front door. I already had my keys ready before I hit the porch.

As soon as I got in the door I slammed it shut and locked it. The fact the I had to do all this planning just to make sure Bill didn't catch me alone pissed me off.

In my newly bad mood, I went into the living room to watch _Buffy_. Seeing a high school girl kick vampire ass made me feel like I should be able to kick Bill's ass. I could do it if I had some training. Maybe I should take some self defense classes? I would have to ask Eric about that next time I spoke to him. If I ever spoke to him again.

I was so enthralled by my own personal _Buffy_ marathon that I was startled when I heard someone knocking on my door.

"Sook? It's Sam. I tried to call before I came but you didn't answer."

"Coming!" I yelled as I cut off the TV and answered the door.

"Hey, Cher. I didn't want to scare you. I got all the stuff in the truck. You got a ladder?"

"Yeah, out in the shed."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Even though Sam had been here for less than a minute, I felt so much better with someone being here. Being in a secluded area with my stalker ex living next door was not the best for my nerves.

I loved to go outside during the summer and with Bill lurking around, I didn't feel safe doing it anymore. With Sam here I felt safe enough to go out and enjoy the sun. It made me rethink the whole, having someone else stay with me idea.

It might have been a little much to go out and sunbathe but I would settle for being outside at all.

I made some sweet tea and I sat and talked to Sam while he wired motion detector lights and security cameras. I hated that we had to wire my house like Fort Knox but if it meant I would have proof against Bill coming on my property, then so be it.

When Sam was done he had to go.

"I'm sorry, Cher but Terry can't handle the money and I want to get it to the bank tonight. I don't like to have that much money sitting around."

"It's fine. With all this stuff, I feel safer already."

"I wired all the cameras to feed the video to your TV screens. Just turn your TV to input 2. The lights will come on when they sense any movement. If you need anything else you can call me."

"Okay. Thanks for doing all of this."

"No problem. Talk to you later?"

"Alright. Bye."

Sam made sure I was in the door before he pulled off. I went to the TV and decided to check out my new cameras.

The camera video was really clear and it made me wonder how much Sam had spent on cameras and lights like these.

So far there was nothing around as far as I could see. Feeling better than I had by myself all day, I decided to soak in my tub and just relax.

But first, I reminded myself, I needed to check my mailbox.

The mailbox was at the end of my driveway to make it easier for the mail person. Usually I'd walk to get it, kind of like my little daily exercise. However, I was just too jumpy with this stuff going on with Bill so I decided to drive. I felt like such a failure being too scared to even check the mail. I decided to call Jason while I took the little drive to get my mail. It would make me feel safer talking to someone and it would give me a chance to catch up with my brother so he wouldn't try to stop by.

He answered on the second ring.

"Sookie! I haven't heard from you all day except for that text message telling me not to stop by. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Jason but I've just not been feeling well and I figured you wouldn't want to come over and get sick too."

"Probably not, but you know I worry about you. I hate that you live out there all by yourself with only Bill for company."

"It's not that bad. Besides, I've hardly seen Bill since we've broken up." Such a HUGE lie.

"Well, I guess that makes me feel a but better. I'm glad he's taking the break up okay. I was a little worried about how he might react. You know he's never been a very stable guy."

"You know Jason. Obviously I didn't know that if I was with the guy for four years. You'd think Bill was running around threatening everyone that way you all talk about him. He wasn't like that when we were together. He was a bit controlling but nothing like the way you guys make him sound. You all must think I'm a complete idiot to have been with him that long. But honestly Jason, when I noticed Bill was becoming too much, I broke it off with him. So can you just stop with the comments about Bill being a total psycho the entire time, because he wasn't."

"Damn Sookie. I had no idea it pissed you off that much."

"Well I'm tired of everyone cramming it down my throat. Bill's not completely stable right now, and probably wasn't in the past, but there's nothing I can do about it now. What happened happened and I can't change it now. I broke up with Bill, doesn't that count for something?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I've just always been worried about you. Bill's always given off vibes that something wasn't quite right about him and you didn't notice it because you were in love. Believe me, I get it. I was head over hills in love with Crystal before I found out that she was cheating on me and doing drugs. It felt like everyone else knew about it but me and I felt like that biggest idiot. I don't want you to feel like that but I still worry about you. Especially since Bill turned into what everyone suspected."

I had made the mistake of mentioning Bill stalking me when it first started and it caused Jason to worry about me constantly. It only added to my decision not to tell Jason about how bad Bill had become.

"You don't have to worry so much. I can take care of myself and we have plenty of friends and family and we all look after each other."

"I know but if you ever need anything I hope you know you can come to me."

"I know."

"Hey, I gotta go. Hoyt just showed up and we're going to head to a club in Shreveport."

"Okay, Jas. I'll talk to you later."

By the time I hung up from my brother I had already gotten my mail and was back in the house. All I got was a bunch of junk mail and bills. What a waste of gas.

I laid the mail on the table and went upstairs to my bathroom to take a relaxing bath. I turned the water on as hot as it would go while I stripped. Then I added in some lavender smelling salts to help me relax before bed.

My cell phone started ringing just as soon as I sank into the tub. I wasn't scared that it could be Bill because I had changed my number soon after we broke up because he kept calling. That was a red flag, huh?

I checked the caller ID but I didn't recognize number. I decided to answer it anyway. Have you ever gotten a voice mail from somebody with the wrong number telling you the person they were trying to call that their brother was dying? I have and I felt terrible about not answering so I could have told them they had the wrong number.

I answered the phone and as soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I instantly regretted answering the phone while naked in the bath.

"Ms. Stackhouse? I was just calling to tell you that your restraining order has been filed. Have you had any more trouble with your ex?"

"E-e-eric?"

"So it's Eric now and not Officer Northman?"

"I don't want to argue," I said as I stepped out of the bath to put some clothes on. I was NOT talking to him while I was naked. "You offended me when you said what you said," I told him absent mindedly as I searched through my panty drawer for my biggest, ugliest pair of granny panties.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. I never meant to offend you." He paused. "What are you doing?" he asked after he heard me rustling around.

"I was taking a bath before you interrupted me. Now I looking for some panties," I replied heatedly, and automatically regretted it.

"I mean..." but it was too late to cover my tracks. I could hear him laughing through the phone.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing?" he asked when he could breathe.

"No," I retorted, trying to put on anything that would cover my body. I felt too exposed talking to him while I was naked, even if it was through the phone.

"I was just in bed ready to go to sleep and I thought I should check up on you. You know, since I'm a cop and all."

"Uh-huh," I was snapping my bra.

"Don't you want to know what I sleep in?"

"Big raggedy plaid pants and a baggy sweater?" I asked hopefully.

"Nope. Good guess though. I sleep naked, especially in the summer."

I moaned and I heard him laugh again. I remembered what that body looked and tasted like. I didn't need him to remind me. Or let me know that I was practically naked talking to him while he was completely naked lying in bed.

"If this is a business call, that's inappropriate," I replied weakly.

"You're right. But to be fair, you started it. Besides, I don't call everyone naked, in bed, at night."

"That's good to know."

"I have to come by tomorrow to bring you a copy of the restraining order."

"Can't you just mail it?" I asked breathlessly. I could hear him rustling in the sheets. I felt a compulsion to lay in my own bed. It would be like we were lying in bed, side-by-side, talking. I hoped he wouldn't hear the mattress creak.

"Oh, I could. But it would get to you much slower. It would get to you a lot faster if I brought it myself."

"What time will you be over?"

"Early, so make sure you get to bed."

"Yes father," I mocked.

"Ooh, I see how it is. Get to sleep you naughty girl before daddy spanks you," he said, sternly, but I could hear he was trying not to laugh.

"That's not what I meant!" I shouted mortified.

I could hear him laughing again. I couldn't say anything to him without him turning it around on me.

"Relax, Sookie. I don't like to play those kinds of games anyway."

"You relax," I retorted kind of childishly.

"Alright. I can tell you're getting flustered so I'll back off. See you in the morning?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sweet dreams, Sookie."

"Night, Eric."

I hung up before I said anything else to embarrass myself.

With my night of relaxation ruined, I settled into bed and expected sleep to come quick.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Sleep came quick alright. As did being awake. Every time the motion lights came on, I shot awake in a cold sweat.

I left the TV on all night, something I never do, so I would be able to keep an eye out for Bill.

When I noticed the sun rising, I finally gave up trying to sleep.

I dragged myself out of bed to shower before Eric arrived with the papers.

I had just finished getting dressed when I heard the door bell ring. I looked out of my window and saw Eric's car in the driveway.

I was wearing a strapless yellow sundress because it was so sunny out, not because I was expecting Eric or anything like that.

I hurried down the steps because it would have been impolite to keep him waiting.

I opened the door and my breathe caught in my throat. Damn, he was gorgeous.

He must not have been on duty today because he was wearing a blue plaid shirt that intensified his blue eyes and dark denim jeans.

"Hey, Sookie. How are you today?"

"Fine," I replied quickly. My mouth intended to get me in trouble around him.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Sure," I said as I stepped aside to let him enter.

"I noticed you have some cameras. When did you get those?"

"My friend put them up for me last night. I was going to tell you when you called but I was a little distracted."

"I can understand that," he smirked at me.

"Oh, and I wanted to get your opinion on if you thought I should take some self defense classes."

"I think that's a good idea. It couldn't hurt. I know a guy who owns a place. I can talk to him for you."

"Sure, thanks." I was grateful because I had no idea where to start looking for a place to train.

"I wanted to come in person because Bill will also be receiving his copy today and I didn't want you to be alone when he got the news," he said as he handed me the restraining order. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hang around for a bit to see if he acts out."

"Normally, I would politely thank you and tell you that it's not necessary."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm just tired of being scared and not being able to sleep."

"Sookie..."

"I'm not a weak person. I like to handle things on my own, but I don't know what to do about this. I'm exhausted. I was jumpy when he used to come around before. But now I'm terrified. I can't turn around without seeing him lurking, watching me."

"Why don't you stay with someone?"

"I can't leave my house and risk him doing something to it. It's all I have left of my Gran."

"Then how about if someone stayed with you?"

"I can't ask my friend Sam because he's so busy with the bar he owns. I can't tell my brother about what's happening or he'll do something stupid. And Amelia doesn't work or anything but I don't want to risk her getting hurt."

"I know what happened between us was, IS, abnormal, but I could stay with you if you needed me to."

"You have work. I can't disrupt your life and you barely know me." I didn't want to involve any more people into this than I had to.

"I'm off all this week and I would rather spend it with you, making sure you're safe, than home alone in my apartment."

"I don't know..." It was a really tempting offer but I wasn't so sure how it would work out.

As if reading my thoughts, Eric said, "Let's just try it one night. If it doesn't work out then I'll leave."

"I guess there's no harm in trying."

"It'll all work out. I promise."

"Okay."

"So do you agree to let me stay?"

"Yes."

"I wasn't planning on this so I need to go back to my apartment to get some clothes. Do you want to go?"

"No, I'll stay here." I didn't want to know where Eric lived. I was trying to distance myself from him so I wouldn't get hurt.

"Are you sure? Bill probably won't be served with his papers until after I get back."

"I'll be fine. Go ahead." I needed to get some things together for his stay anyway. I would have to go to the store to get some groceries too.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few hours." He quickly left the house to head home. I guess he didn't want to waste any time.

It was only 9:30 a.m. when he left but I wanted to go to the store as soon as possible so I could hurry and get back.

I grabbed my keys and was heading out the door as Eric was starting his car.

"Where are you going?"

"I just need to get a few things at the store. I'll meet you back here in a few?"

He nodded but he waited until I got in my car and started it before he pulled off.

I followed him down my driveway except he turned left and I turned right.

On the way to the grocery store I passed by the shopping center and decided to stop and take a look around.

I'd never had a lot of money so I was a huge fan of window-shopping.

I walked through the stores, more enjoying my stress free time than actually looking at any merchandise.

And that was how I found myself in the store at the very end of the plaza. The adult store.

I was tempted to walk right back out until I saw the cutest lingerie set hanging on a rack by the door. It was a red bra with a black laced corset down the front of each cup. The matching panties were red with a black laced corset down the sides. I didn't notice it until I picked it up, but the butt of the panties was made of lace and completely see through.

I must have been focusing on the underwear pretty hard because I didn't even notice the shop assistant come up to me.

"Oh girl! Those would look absolutely gorgeous on you!"

"Oh! Um, thanks."

"I'm Shelly. My aunt owns this store." The girl looked to be in her early 20s. She had bright red hair and green eyes.

"If you don't mind, there's another piece over here that would look amazing on you."

She grabbed me by the hand and took me to the sleepwear section.

"Here, what do you think of this?" she said as she shoved a light pink sheer Teddy and matching thong panties at me.

"Oh. I don't know. I've never worn anything like this."

"Trust me. You wear this and you'll have that man on yours begging. Just look at your body. You're not a stick like most girls. You got curves and they would look good in this."

I was so uncomfortable and unsure but I had the urge to do something out of character so I bought them both.

I ran from the store to my car with the bag under my arm. I hurried and put the bag in the trunk, hoping no one saw it. Then I headed to the grocery store.

I picked up some things for breakfast. I got what I noticed Eric had eaten the most of the day before.

I had no idea what he liked to eat so I got a wide variety of lunch and dinner options. Whatever Eric didn't eat I could always call Jason over to finish the rest.

I was feeling guilty about not telling Jason about Bill but that would only make everything worse. It wasn't like I was telling everyone. I wasn't going to call and tell Tara and Laf either.

Besides, I didn't have time to dwell on it. I had to meet Eric back at the house in 20 minutes.

I pulled into my driveway and saw Eric leaning up against his car waiting for me. Looking all tall and sexy and lean and forbidden. No matter what, I was not touching that while it was at my house. I had too much to deal with already. No matter what the bag in my trunk insinuated.

"What took ya?"

"I stopped at the shopping center," I mumbled as I went to open the door. "I'll show you to your room."

He didn't say anything but he followed me with his duffle bag in hand.

I showed him to the room upstairs next to mine.

"It's a bit smaller than the last room I stayed in when I was here," he said, referring to my bedroom.

"Well bedrooms aren't normally as big as a living room," I retorted with a grin on my face. We may have had sex in my room but he didn't really sleep in there.

He sat his duffle bag on the floor and followed me back to the car to carry in the groceries.

It didn't take long to carry in all the bags with Eric's help.

As I was putting the groceries away I noticed my bag of lingerie sitting on the kitchen table. I had no idea which one of us brought it in but I hoped to God it wasn't Eric. I heard him coming into the kitchen with more bags so I hurried and shoved the bag of lingerie into the cupboard with the box of cereal I was putting away.

I quickly put away the rest of the groceries and Eric unpacked his clothes while I made sandwiches.

After we ate we awkwardly watched TV together. I still had my _Buffy_ DVD in the player and it started again as soon as I turned on the TV.

"Oh, I was just watching this the other day. We don't have to watch this," I said, getting ready to turn the DVD off.

"No, it's fine. I actually like _Buffy_."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Especially after she dumped Angel and started going out with Spike."

"Are you crazy? I hated her with Spike!"

"No way. Spike was clearly better for her."

"I'm tempted to throw you out of my house right now, Bill be damned."

Eric didn't respond. He just shook his head at me like he pitied me because I liked Angel better. Yeah, right.

We continued to watch _Buffy_ and I had no idea how long we sat there in silence but when I noticed it was getting late, I announced that I was going to make dinner.

While we were eating our hamburgers, I saw the motion lights come on and we heard the door bell ring. Eric got up first to see who it was. He came back to the table with a folded up piece of paper and a grim look on his face.

"See you soon, sweet Sookie," was all the note said.

As soon as I looked up at Eric he said, "Check the cameras."

I got up and went into the living room to check the cameras on the living room TV. I rewound the feed and all I saw was a masked person coming into view from the right side of the screen with a note in their hands.

"He knows you put the cameras up. He's trying to hide his face so you can't claim it's him."

"Eric?"

"Don't worry, Sookie. I'll be right back"

He went upstairs and when he came back down he had his gun with him.

"Lock the door when I go out. Don't unlock it until you hear my voice."

When I nodded he stepped outside and I quickly locked the door behind him. I stood by the door for about 10 minutes waiting for him to return.

"It's alright, Sookie. Let me in," Eric called through the door.

I opened the door and he came right in, shut the door, and locked it back.

"I walked the perimeter of your house and partly into the woods. I didn't see anyone or anything."

"What should we do?"

"We don't have any proof the note came from Bill. I'll keep a closer eye on the monitors and try and catch him when he comes back," he said with a reassuring voice. He was rubbing my arm trying to soothe me. Even though his plan made me sound like a sitting duck, having Eric here with me made me feel at ease.

"Okay," I smiled up at him.

"You go on ahead and get to sleep. You look tired."

"Gee thanks."

"Don't mention it," he smirked at me.

We were suddenly standing really close to each other. I could tell he wanted to kiss me by the way he kept glancing at my lips. I licked them by reflex. He started to lower his head and I didn't move away.

This was all a huge mess but even through it all, I still wanted Eric.

His lips had almost made contact with mine, when all of a sudden…

"AAAAACHOOO!"

"What the fuck, Sookie?!"

I sneezed two more times before I stopped.

"Oh my God!" I yelled, mortified.

"You sneezed in my face!"

"I am so sorry!"

I couldn't even look at Eric as he wiped his face. "Um, night!" I called as I ran up the steps to escape the embarrassment.

As I got into bed I thought about what might have happened if I hadn't had the sudden urge to sneeze. I realized that I did want to kiss Eric, but nothing good would have come of it. He was a one-night stand turned live in protector and he would be leaving at the end of the week. I wasn't even ready to get into another relationship after the disaster Bill turned out to be. Pushing the depressing thoughts from my mind, I rolled over and went to sleep.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

I woke up in the middle of the night screaming. I had a horrible nightmare that Bill broke into my house while I was home alone. I ran to hide but he found me. I started screaming when I realized he had found me. It was my screams in real life that woke me up.

I jumped up in bed and almost immediately Eric busted into my bedroom with his gun.

"Oh my God! What are you going to do with that?!" I yelled, surprised.

He looked confused until he noticed the gun in his hand.

"I, uh. I was sleeping on the couch when I heard you scream."

"Why were you on the couch?"

"I was watching the monitors," he replied, voice rough from sleeping.

It was then that I finally noticed what he was wearing. Red plaid pajama bottoms and nothing else. And not the grubby kind I had hoped he was wearing when he called me the night before. These looked practically new and sat low on his hips. I could see all of his muscles, including that sexy little V that led to what I refused to let myself have. I sat there gaping at his nakedness in all its glory.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," it came out like a sexy purr. I cleared my throat. "I mean, I'm fine."

He stalked over to the bed and wrapped me in his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Sookie, you're shaking."

"Oh." I didn't know if it was from my dream or from Eric busting into my room half naked with guns a blazing. Well, maybe not a blazing but drawn.

"Lay down, Sookie. I promise I won't try anything. Just let me hold you until you calm down."

I wanted to refuse but he just felt so good and I found myself nodding instead.

I laid back down with Eric's arms wrapped around me. His body was so hard yet I found it comforting. He was so warm and he smelled amazing. I felt like I was wrapped up in a safety blanket.

Feeling more secure than I had in as long as I could remember, I fell asleep. And I slept all night.

* * *

**A/N:** I hoped you guys like that! *bes nervous*

Tell me what you liked about the chapter and what you didn't. I really like to know what you guys think. I write the chapters as I go so your guys' reviews have changed things that I've written.

The next chapter will discuss more about how Eric felt through all of this and I'm expecting it to have a little more... fun, lol.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about that bag of lingerie in the cabinet. Cereal anyone? ;)

And a little FYI, when I first started FF, I created my username with the idea of writing a story in which Sookie got letters from a creepy weirdo who addressed her as "Sweet Sookie." It fit here so I decided to use it, lol.

Anywho, I think I'll stop boring you all now.

See you at the next update! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I have had a ton going on, including having to find a new beta but I'm finally updating.

I already have the next chapter for CO started and I'm already done with the next chapter of BOE (so I'm going to post that after I do the review replies).

I want to thank my temporary beta beatlechickstep.

As always I don't own these characters and any remaining mistakes are my own!

* * *

I woke up feeling happier than I had in a long time. Sookie was sleeping cuddled in my arms. She looked so peaceful, I didn't want to move and wake her up.

All I could really remember from last night was sitting on the couch watching the security tapes waiting for any sign of Bill. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, I jumped up at the sound of Sookie's scream.

I didn't even realize I had grabbed my gun until she made mention of it.

You can't really blame me for being tired. I barely slept the night before after I got off the phone with Sookie.

I could hear water splashing when I called her and drew the conclusion that she was in the bath. And then when she actually admitted that she was in the bath - naked! I was wound a little tight after that phone call.

I was already having trouble sleeping when I'd seen her earlier in the day in nothing but that damn sleep shirt. I swear I had never had fantasies that involved the Cookie-Monster before. All I kept thinking about was running my hands up those thighs while her legs were wrapped around me and I was... You get the idea. But my hard-on instantly went soft when I heard about Sookie's ex and the way he had been treating her.

The fact that the fucker had the audacity to stalk Sookie and threaten her made me want to cut his balls off. No man who deserved them would ever treat a woman that way.

The idea of him confronting her, because of me, after I left her that morning, pissed me off. He didn't dare show up while I was here. Instead he decided to wait until she was alone.

Sookie was scared to leave the house and I was the one who was going to scare all of her monsters away.

She wasn't the kind of woman who liked to be saved. And fuck it, but I wanted her to be that kind of woman. I wanted Sookie to need me. And I wanted to save her. Sookie was stubborn and defiant, but that's what I liked about her. It was rarely ever easy with her, and I liked the fight. And even though she was stubborn, she wasn't so hard headed that it made her make stupid decisions. She wouldn't leave her house? She had cameras installed and didn't fight, much, when I offered to stay.

Being through Sookie's house, I could see why she didn't want to leave. It was clear that everything important to her was in here. Nearly everything in the house had been passed down from a previous generation and by some of the pictures I'd found, it seemed Sookie's family had built the house themselves. She had told me she was scared Bill would burn the house to the ground while she was gone and I knew Sookie would do anything possible to stop that.

I was getting restless lying awake in bed, so I decided to make Sookie breakfast. It might not be as good, or homemade, as what she'd made me, but it would be edible. Hopefully.

Plus, if I wanted my new host to let me stay the entire seven days, I had to please her. Hopefully with a little more than some cold cereal for breakfast.

I glanced back down at Sookie. I was lying on my side and she was cuddled into my chest as close as she could get. She had her head lying on one arm and my other was wrapped around her waist, holding her to me. Her legs were tangled with mine and it looked like she was clinging to me for dear life.

Once I became fully aware, I realized that my morning wood was pressed between her thighs. In order to avoid a fight from her waking up and finding us in that position, I had to get out of bed as soon as possible.

I smoothed her hair back from her face and just had to look at her. Even first thing in the morning, she was beautiful. The sun was pouring in from the window and making her look like an angel. I lightly pressed a kiss to her lips before I tried to untangle myself from her without waking her up.

When I finally managed to creep down stairs, I checked the cameras before moving into the kitchen.

When I got to the kitchen, I realized that I had no clue where anything was. I helped her carry in the groceries but I didn't help her put them away.

I started from the top left cabinet and worked my way over. The cabinets closest to the sink held the cups, plates and bowls, which made sense. When I got to the cabinets by the fridge, I started finding food.

When I opened the cabinet with the cereal, a bag fell out. I had noticed that it was a different bag than the ones from the grocery store when I carried it in yesterday, but I was so preoccupied with keeping an eye out for Bill, I didn't peek inside. I had wondered what happened to it last night.

I picked the bag up off of the floor and listened to make sure Sookie wasn't awake. I couldn't tell what was in it from the bag itself because it was plain black and made of shiny paper. That made it difficult to see through the bag as well.

There was no harm in taking a peek, was there? When I peered into the bag and finally got a look at what was inside, I had to clamp my lips together to stifle the moan threatening to slip out.

Inside was sexy lingerie. I couldn't tell completely what it looked like without handling it, but it was definitely red and black. My two new favorite colors. Underneath the underwear it looked to be a pink teddy. If Sookie in a Cookie-Monster shirt had me hard, this new attire was going to kill me. Sookie looked good naked, but the thought of her covering up what I wanted most, and me having to unwrap it like a present? That made me a little stiff in the pants. It also made me wonder what would posses her to buy it. Had she bought it for me? Maybe she wasn't as immune to me as she led me to believe? The thought made me smile.

I didn't touch anything in the bag. I couldn't be blamed for taking a peek, but if I had touched anything, knowing what it was, I would have felt like a pervert.

My only problem was, what the hell was I going to do with the bag now? If I brought her cereal, she'd have known that I found it.

If I gave it to her, she'd be embarrassed and probably be pissed off at me. I could always put it in the cabinet, sneak back upstairs and pretend I never found it. And even though that would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, I didn't want to pretend like I hadn't seen it.

What I really wanted to do was march upstairs, bag in hand, and demand that she wear these for me.

It made me wonder again, had she gotten them for me? I felt like I needed to know. I saw the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn't looking, especially last night when I wasn't wearing my shirt.

I finally decided that I was going to hide the bag and not give it to her unless she asked for it. I loved teasing her. The look she got on her face when she refused to look me in the eye and the blush that crept up her cheeks. I loved it. I quickly ran the bag upstairs to the room I was supposed to be staying in, and was determined to see very little of.

I had to hide the bag somewhere where she wouldn't look for it. Even if she searched my room, I had a feeling she would be uncomfortable looking through my underwear. Cliché spot, I know, but I put it at the bottom of the drawer my underwear was in.

I hurried downstairs and finished making her cereal before creeping back upstairs to her bedroom.

She wasn't awake but she had rolled over. I slipped back in bed behind her and just held her to me for a moment longer before I had to wake her up. Something told me she wouldn't appreciate soggy cereal.

As soon as I slipped into bed she cuddled into me and kind of wiggled her ass against my front. I moaned even though I tried to catch it. I tried to keep a distance between my cock and her ass but every time I moved back, she wiggled right up against me again.

I had to wake her up. I couldn't lay in bed any longer with her doing that to me and not take advantage of her.

"Sookie?" I gave her a gentle nudge. Nothing.

"Sookie." This time I pushed her harder. She groaned. I could tell she was conscious but didn't want to get up.

"Sookie, if you don't wake up right now, I'm going to kiss you."

"No you won't," she mumbled, with her face in her pillow.

She shouldn't challenge me. Especially not for something I wanted.

"I'm going to count to three and if you aren't sitting up, I'm going to roll you over and kiss you." God, I hoped she wouldn't get up.

"One." She stiffened.

"Two." She peeked at me with her face still in the pillow.

"Three." When I reached for her she jumped up.

"I'm awake, okay? Geez, you don't have to threaten me."

Yeah right, like she thought kissing me was something to threaten her with. I wasn't conceded but I'd felt the way she kissed me back when we had sex. She couldn't stop. And last night when I almost kissed her, she'd leaned into it. Before she sneezed in my face.

"I made you breakfast."

"What did you make?"

"Cereal," I grinned as I presented her with the bowl. Her face paled.

"Thank you for making me cereal," she smiled sweetly at me. It looked more like she was baring her teeth. She snatched the bowl of cereal out of my hand and ate it as quickly as possible in a clear attempt to get rid of me.

"So... anything happen while I was asleep?"

"Like what?" I asked cautiously trying to figure out if she was hinting at her underwear I know she knew I found.

"Anything on the cameras?"

"No." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hmm. Interesting."

"How so?" I asked, not willing to be the first to give up this little game.

"Oh, I just meant that your car has been in front of my house since last night, and after that note... I'm just surprised Bill hasn't popped up." She huffed and put her bowl on her nightstand. "Have you eaten?"

"I was kind of hoping you were in the mood to cook..." I trailed off giving her a sly smile that had worked on hundreds of women. Sookie made real home cooked food and I was dying for another taste.

"Maybe after I shower," she said as she crawled to the foot of the bed on her hands and knees, her ass swaying the whole way.

As soon as she was off the bed she unbuttoned her shorts and slid them down her legs, leaving them where they dropped, and continued her walk to the bathroom.

My mouth went dry as I caught a glimpse of her ass hugging bikini panties. She continued to sway her ass as she walked to the bathroom and I knew she was doing it on purpose.

Next she pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it just outside the bathroom door. That was the first time I had seen Sookie even close to being nude since we'd had sex and my dick definitely appreciated the sight.

She turned her head just enough to peek at me from under her eye lashes before she stepped through the bathroom door.

I was already up, ready to follow her, before I even saw her start to unhook her bra and slide it down her arms. She turned just enough for me to see side boob before she slammed the bathroom door in my face.

"Sookie!" I growled loud enough to make sure she could hear me.

Watching Sookie's little show made my already painful situation even worse.

If Sookie wasn't going to help, I'd have to take care of it myself.

I grabbed her bowl and left her room. I went into my room to grab some clothes for after my shower then I headed downstairs. After putting Sookie's bowl in the sink, I headed to the downstairs bathroom to shower. There was a closet by the bathroom that had extra towels and washrags.

I grabbed one of each and went into the bathroom. The soap, shampoo, and conditioner were already in there. I wouldn't have expected any less of Sookie. She was a southern woman through and through so of course she would make sure a guest had anything they needed.

The shower was a little small and the showerhead was aimed at my throat but I would have to manage. There would be no way Sookie would let me shower with her.

I could still hear Sookie's shower running upstairs and I imagined I was up there with her. With images of a naked Sookie dancing in my head, I grabbed the bottle of conditioner and set to easing the ache in my groin. Once I took care of myself, I hurried through the rest of my shower determined to make it out before Sookie.

I had plans for Sookie and me today. And surprisingly, they weren't just sexual. I wanted to get her away from the house. I know Sookie said she'd refuse to leave but her staying here 24/7 would only make her feel worse. She would never be able to let loose and forget all the stress if she was worrying about Bill popping up every second.

I knew Sookie was stubborn and it would be hard to convince her to leave the house alone for more than a few hours but she needed it and I would do whatever it took to make it happen.

I got dressed and realized I could still hear the shower running upstairs. I hurried to the kitchen to make plans for the rest of the day while Sookie was out of earshot.

I called Alcide first. I needed to call in a favor.

The phone rang and rang until it finally went to voice mail. More than a little irritated, I kept calling back until he answered.

"What in the hell do you want?" he answered, annoyed and out of breath.

"Still seeing Amelia?"

"Yes. In fact I'm seeing quite a bit of her right now and I'd like to get back to it. So if you don't mind..."

"You hang up this phone and I'll drive over there and kick your ass. I need a favor."

"YOU actually need something from ME?"

"Yeah, yeah. You owe me."

"For what?"

"For keeping Debbie from stabbing you, shooting you, and any other way she's tried to kill you."

"Hmm... I guess... That time you tased her was pretty great. Alright, what do you need?"

"I need to get Sookie out of this house and away from her crazy ex. The only problem is, she won't leave because she's scared he'll hurt the house. So I need you to come house sit for the rest of the day."

"Can I bring Amelia?"

"I don't think Sookie would appreciate you having sex all over her house."

He was quiet for a minute before he finally answered. "Fine. I'll do it, but only because I know a few things about crazy exes myself. I'll be over when I finish here."

"Be here in twenty minutes."

"One hour."

"Twenty minutes."

"Forty-five minutes."

"Twenty minutes."

"Thirty minutes."

"Deal!" I said before he could change his mind.

He hung up on me right away, but not before I heard Amelia squeal. I guess he didn't want to waste any time.

I didn't have any time to waste either. I had more phone calls to make.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Sookie POV

I woke up when Eric left the bed that morning. I had slept all night and it felt great. But that didn't mean I liked to get up right away. It usually took me 30 minutes after waking up to actually get out of bed. Sad, I know, but I am not a morning person.

I was dozing when Eric came back to my room. I was surprised. I thought he had left to check the cameras or shower or something.

When he slid back into bed with me, I smiled.

Since he thought I was asleep, I decided to take advantage. Just because I didn't need any more complications in my life at the moment, that didn't mean I couldn't have a little fun...

I snuggled closer against him to feel his body pressed against mine. I could feel that he still didn't have his shirt on.

When I was fully against him, I felt it. My ass rubbed up against his cock. I should have backed off, but I couldn't.

Eric tried to shift away but I wiggled right back against him to tease him again. I was a little turned on too, it just wasn't so... obvious.

When he started calling my name, I didn't expect him to try and wake me up, so I pretended like I was still asleep, embarrassed about teasing him. When he pushed me again, I groaned so he would know I was awake and hopefully leave me alone. I wasn't expecting to have to deal with him so soon after waking up and I wasn't completely awake, leaving me at a disadvantage. You always had to be on your toes to keep up with Eric. I wondered if he knew I was awake the whole time. I was so embarrassed I kept my face buried in the pillow so he wouldn't see me blushing.

Then he told me that if I didn't get up, he was going to kiss me!

To say I was shocked was an understatement.

The entire time he was counting I was debating on whether or not I should stay lying down.

When he started to reach for me, I freaked and jumped up.

I was already flustered. Not to mention the fact that Eric was sitting in my bed with me, and he looked even better in the sunlight than he did the night before. I REALLY wanted to kiss him last night, and I might have, if I hadn't sneezed. I was so embarrassed the only thing I could do was keep apologizing and run. I had always had terrible luck with men and always ended up making an ass of myself.

Then, like I needed another reason to be embarrassed, Eric mentioned he'd made me cereal. At first I thought, "That was nice of him."

Then it hit me. MY UNDERWEAR!

By the look on his face I could tell he had found it. He looked highly amused. And I knew it was not because he was waiting for me to eat the damn cereal.

I wanted to ask him about them SO bad, but I knew if I did, he would tease me about it even more. He loved to make me squirm.

As payback for all of his teasing I crawled to the foot of the bed on my hands and knees and I made sure my ass swayed the whole way.

As soon as I was off of the bed, I unbuttoned my shorts and slide them down my legs, left them where they dropped and continued walking into the bathroom.

Thank God I put on cute panties yesterday, which I noticed I had done since sleeping with Eric, but refused to believe that Eric had any affect on me.

I continued walking to the bathroom and swaying my ass.

Next I pulled my shirt over my head and dropped it just outside the bathroom door.

I turned my head just enough to peek at Eric from under my eye lashes before I stepped through the bathroom door.

Just before I kicked the door shut with my foot, I made a show of unsnapping my bra and sliding it down my arms.

I took my panties off once the door was fully closed.

I reached to turn on the shower but before the rush of water started, I heard Eric growl, "Sookie!"

I was glad to see I could affect him too. Though I already knew I did, if the constant bulge in his pants was any indicator.

I was a little embarrassed by my tease and was not ready to face Eric again so I wanted to stay in the shower for as long as possible. I just wanted some time to myself. I knew Eric was here so I wasn't scared of Bill popping up, and I just wanted to take advantage of the peace. Plus, I needed to be away from Eric if I was going to think.

The bastard had my underwear and I had to get them back! Well, I was pretty sure he had them. One peek in the cabinet downstairs would confirm that. I tried to think of anything I could do to embarrass him as much as he continued to embarrass me but I came up with nothing. Eric was a guy who could go with the flow. Nothing could faze him.

I took my time washing my hair, washing my body, and shaving. Eric was seriously starting to affect me, and it was making me uncomfortable. I had been with Bill for four years and I never felt this way about him. I REALLY hoped Eric was out of my room before I got back there. Not only was I mortified to face him, but I also realized that I didn't bring my clothes with me into the bathroom. So not only would I have to face Eric, I'd have to face him naked. If Eric turned me in knots when I was dressed, I loathed thinking what he could make me do while I was naked...

Thank goodness I didn't have to find out because my room was empty when I opened the bathroom door. I could hear voices downstairs and crept to the top of the steps to listen to make sure it wasn't Bill causing trouble. I could only hear Eric's low voice so I figured it must just be him on the phone. I hoped it wasn't anything serious that would make him have to leave. I was getting kind of comfortable not having to look over my shoulder all the time. As much as I hated to admit that I needed anyone, Eric made me feel safe.

When I came back to my senses I realized I was eavesdropping naked and I hurried back to my room to dress before Eric really did find me naked. I put on another pair of cute, matching underwear and refused to let myself believe they were because of Eric. Then I threw on a pair of jean short shorts, because it was really hot, not for any other reason, and a simple black tank.

I hadn't heard anything from Eric while I was getting dressed, so I assumed he was still on the phone. I crept down the stairs and I could hear Eric talking to someone in a stern voice, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. He was pacing in the living room with an irritated look on his face and I wondered whom he was walking to and what he was talking about. Just as he hung up he turned and saw me.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Not very long. Why?"

"Just wondering. You know, it's not polite to eavesdrop."

"I was not!"

"Relax, Sook. I was just teasing," he said as he started to walk toward me. "You're so easy to tease." He kissed me on the cheek before walking past me to the front door.

I stood still, a little shocked, with my hand on my cheek to feel the slightly wet spot where his lips had touched. When I realized what I was doing I spun around to try and look unaffected. But I could tell he had caught me when he was standing by the front door staring at me with a smirk on his face.

"I have a surprise for you."

"I hate surprises."

"Well, too bad. I think you'll enjoy this though."

He opened the front door and Alcide walked in. I guess I was too wrapped up in a peck on the cheek to hear the knock on the door.

"I've got to be honest with you Eric. I'm not really thrilled."

"Trust me Sookie, he's not the surprise. No one could be happy with that."

"I can hear you two. And Amelia is pretty pleased with me."

"I'm surprised you two could pry yourself away from each other long enough to come over here. Why are you here, by the way?" I asked, surprised to be seeing Alcide again.

"We're going out today and I know how scared you are about the house, so I asked Alcide to come over to house sit," Eric replied.

"That's really nice Eric, but I'm not sure that's a good idea." Alcide was a cop but he also seemed to be irresponsible and I wasn't prepared to put everything I owned in his protection.

I guess what I was thinking showed on my face because Eric leaned toward me and whispered, "I know he doesn't seem capable of it, but Alcide is one of the best cops on the force. I wouldn't trust him with watching your house otherwise. I promise Sookie. You need some time away without worrying about Bill. You need at least an afternoon without worrying. Let me give that to you."

"Okay," I whispered back reluctantly. I just couldn't say no to that cute, trusting look on his face.

"Great! Alcide, I'll call you. Don't forget to do a perimeter check at least every hour!"

"Yeah, yeah. Go have fun you crazy kids," Alcide said as he ushered us out the door. I barely had time to grab my purse and slip my sandals on before the door was shut in our face.

"Are you sure about this Eric..."

"It will be fine Sook, I promise. Besides, you can call for frequent updates if you're so worried."

"I guess..."

"Please don't think anymore about it. Let's just have fun."

I must not have looked very convinced because Eric stuck his hand out and said, "Honestly Sookie. Do you trust me?"

I thought for a second before I smiled and said, "Yes," as I took his hand. We walked hand in hand to his car. And to be honest, I couldn't wait for his surprise.

* * *

**A/N:** I promised some fun for this chapter and there was a little bit but the real fun will start next chapter.

Don't forget to review!

Also, I'm going to try to post more after this week because I have to finish my finals and then I'm on spring break! (Although I have to plan my sister's baby shower so that's going to take some time...)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **When I thought if anyone wanted a teaser or a chapter more I just decided I'd post the chapter instead of waiting. I've had this chapter written for a LONG time and I just decided to post it without a beta since it seems hard to find one that suits me. I don't think I'm going to use a beta from now on so if my stories really start to suck because of the lack of a beta let me know and I'll have to try to find another one. Hopefully by not having to rely on a beta I'll be able to post more than a couple times a year.

Any mistakes are obviously my own and I don't own any of the characters, blah blah blah.

_Story so far, Eric is a real cop that showed up to Sookie's house because they got a call about a loud party. Amelia thought they were strippers and Alcide, Eric's partner, convinced Eric to play along. Eric and Sookie ended up having sex. The next day, after being harassed by her ex-boyfriend Bill, Sookie calls the police and decides to make a report. Eric ends up being the cop that comes and after hearing Sookie's story offers to stay with her while he's on vacation from work. Eric keeps trying to make moves on Sookie but she doesn't want to get into a relationship, especially with her last boyfriend being a total psycho. Eric finally convinces Sookie to go out with him while Alcide watches the house._

* * *

When Eric pulled up to the location of the date, I couldn't contain my squeal.

"What? You don't like it?"

"Are you kidding me?! I freaking love the zoo!"

The smile he gave me made me pause. He really was gorgeous.

"Ready to go in?"

"Yes, lets go."

He came around to my side of the car but I was already out the door before he reached me. I was practically bouncing I was so excited. Eric grabbed my hand and led me to the entrance. Although I was confused about where mine and Eric's relationship was headed, or if we even had one, I didn't pull my hand away. It felt nice just to be a normal person for once. I was getting tired of looking over my shoulder and being so uptight all the time.

Eric insisted that he pay for both of our tickets, which made it seem even more like a date, but we were both so excited and I didn't want to ruin the mood by insisting that I pay for my own ticket.

As soon as we got through the gate there was a place to get your picture taken. They had just remodeled the giraffe exhibit to include a platform for people to feed the giraffes. The picture set up was a wooden cut out of a giraffe for someone to stick their face through, and a zookeeper hat and shirt.

"Oooh! Can we get our picture taken!?"

He looked a little skeptical.

"I don't know. Who is going to be the giraffe?"

I looked him up and down. "You of course! Come on!" I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the little photo shoot. To my surprise, he didn't put up a fight. It's not like I could have dragged him if he didn't want to move.

Eric had to crouch down to get his face aligned with the hole for the giraffe's head and I put the zoo keeper shirt on over my tank top and put on the hat. There was also a branch of leaves to pretend like I was feeding the giraffe.

I held the branch up to Eric's mouth and kept nudging his mouth with it.

"Come on you little giraffe. Eat it."

"Sookie, I am not putting those leaves in my mouth."

"Just pretend."

"No. I don't trust you not to stick it in there as soon as I open my mouth."

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Are you guys ready?" the photographer asked.

"As soon as he opens his mouth," I answered.

"Not going to happen."

"1, 2, 3!"

To my surprise, at the last second, Eric ripped a leaf off the branch with his mouth and I busted out laughing.

The photographer walked up to us and handed us a slip.

"Before you leave, take this to the photo tent and you can pick up your picture."

After I took off my zookeeper costume, Eric grabbed my hand again and started leading me around the zoo.

I hadn't been to the zoo since I was a kid but I absolutely loved looking at all the animals. We saved the zebras and giraffes for last because they were my favorite.

The bird exhibit was boring but I liked the part where you could walk through the chain curtain to get to a little exhibit where birds flew freely.

Eric bought some bird food for us to give to the birds. As soon as Eric stepped into the room, the birds flocked to his open hands to eat the seeds.

I busted out laughing because Eric looked like the Beast when he and Belle went out to feed the birds.

"What are you laughing at now?"

"Nothing. I'm just having fun."

He smiled at me again and I realized how carefree I had been all day, thanks to Eric.

After all of the birdseed was gone, Eric washed his hands at a little station they had set up, then he grabbed my hand again.

"Okay, we just have to see the zebras and the giraffes. Ready?"

"Yes!" I grinned back at him.

We went to see the zebras and I was really excited to see a baby zebra running through the exhibit. I always loved seeing the baby animals.

"Come on. Let's go feed those giraffes," I said, ridiculously excited to see the exhibit.

When we got to the giraffe exhibit it was full of children crowding the railing to feed the giraffes. I REALLY wanted to feed them too and I thought I might get in trouble for pushing the little kids out of the way...

Still, I grabbed a branch of leaves and was prepared to wait until one of the kids left and then I was going to snag their spot.

While I was watching the line like a hawk, I noticed a little girl that was too small to reach the railing and the other kids kept pushing her back. I felt so bad for her.

"Do you see that little girl over there?" I pointed out to Eric.

"Yeah. Where do you think her parents are?"

"I don't know. Let's go help her."

We walked over to the little girl and I crouched down to talk to her.

"Hey honey. Is your mom or dad around?"

She was extremely shy and instead of talking, she pointed to an overweight man sitting on the benches surrounding the exhibit, looking like he was about to pass out.

"Hmm... Eric, you go talk to him and see if it's okay if I pick her up."

He smiled at me before he turned to go talk to the dad. I saw him smiling at the man and pointing at us. I gave a little wave and the dad nodded at the little girl waiting for permission.

Eric walked back over to us and picked the little girl up.

"Are you reading to feed the giraffes?"

The little girl smiled at him and nodded. He smiled back at her and I smiled at how cute the whole thing was.

We weaseled our way in between the other children and Eric held the little girl up so she could feed the giraffes and I held up my own branch.

I think I was more excited than the little girl when the giraffes actually came up to us.

They had the bottom of the platform level with the giraffes' faces so they had to reach up to get the leaves. I saw a baby giraffe standing next to his mother but he was too short to reach the platform.

I felt so bad for the poor thing that I slightly leaned over the railing to reach it. And by slightly, I mean I was completely hanging over it with only one foot on the ground.

"Ma'am! MA'AM! You can't do that!" a zookeeper said, running over to us.

"Why not? That baby giraffe is hungry and no one else can feed him."

"I'm sorry but there is a sign right there," she pointed over to the smallest, out of the way sign I have ever seen, "that says you cannot lean over the railing."

This woman sounded like such a snooty bitch that I wanted to yell back at her but kids surrounded us so I didn't think that would be appropriate.

I had to bite my tongue, and let me tell you, it was hard.

Eric must have noticed the look on my face because he grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, Sook. I think it's time to go. It's getting late anyway."

The little girl he had held was already walking out of the exhibit with her father. We had seen every exhibit in the zoo, plus I was getting hungry, so we left.

It was still extremely hot that day so I wanted to stop at the bathroom before we left. I could feel the sweat running down my face and it did not feel good.

I went into the bathroom, which was surprisingly empty, and splashed some water on my face. Then I took a paper towel, soaked it in cold water and put it on the back of my neck. I took another one and wiped myself down. Eric and I were really getting along and I didn't want to smell like a wet dog because I was sweating.

When I came out of the bathroom, Eric was waiting by the door.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes. I'm starving! Are you hungry?"

"I can always eat," he said as he grinned back at me.

Once we got in the car and started driving he asked me, "Where do you want to eat?"

"Let's go to Merlotte's. I want to stop by and see Sam anyway."

It was starting to get dark by the time we got there but the dinner rush was already over and the people who came to drink already started filing in.

I walked in and saw Sam behind the bar.

"Hey, Sook. How are you?" The look he gave me when he said it made me believe he was talking about the situation with Bill more than wanting to know how I was in general. And now that I thought of it, I hadn't thought about Bill burning down my house once today...

I looked to Eric in a panic and somehow he knew what I was thinking.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Alcide has been texting me every hour with an update. Now don't worry about it. Let's eat."

Eric put his arm around me and I saw Sam glare at him. I was not ready to have this perfect day ruined because Sam was overprotective.

"We'll be at that booth over there," I said, pointing to a booth in the corner. "Send over a waitress, will you?"

"Sure Sook..."

I grabbed Eric's hand and dragged him over to the booth. It seemed we were doing a lot of hand holding today and I wasn't even uncomfortable at how easy it had become to reach for his hand.

One of the new waitresses came over and took our order. She stared at Eric the entire time, completely ignoring me, and I must say, I felt a twinge of jealousy when he smiled at her. His smiles were mine.

"Ugh, I don't know why Sam hires whores to work at the bar. They might attract skeevy men but we might get shut down for prostitution!"

"Um.. what?"

"Look at that waitress! Running around, flirting with everyone!"

"I think she's just trying to be friendly to get good tips."

"Oh look at you, sticking up for her," I mumbled.

"Are you jealous?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Of course not!" but I knew I was blushing.

"You are!"

"Drop it."

Wisely, he didn't say anything else about it. He just smirked like a fool.

I had a beer with dinner, something I hadn't allowed myself in a long time. I had a few drinks at my birthday but I had planned on Amelia spending the night and felt like I could have fun. With Eric, I felt like I could let myself go and let someone else be in charge and worry about the psycho stalking me.

By the time we left Merlotte's, I was pretty tipsy. I had more than a few beers and hadn't eaten since the cereal Eric had brought me.

"Uh, Sook? I think it's about time we take you home and get you to bed."

"Why?"

"Because you're starting to slur and the guy at the bar keeps glaring at me. I think he thinks I slipped you a roofy."

"Nah, Sam's just overprotective but I'm ready to go anyway."

When we stood up I swayed and Eric caught my arm. Sam looked like he wasn't going to let Eric take me out of the bar but I waved him away. If I were safe with anyone, it would be Eric.

We pulled up to the house and I was surprised to see Alcide's car still in the driveway. I didn't expect him to stay at my house for the entire day even though Eric made him promise. However, I was not surprised to see Amelia's car in the driveway as well.

"I told him not to bring her over here."

"It's okay. I've never seen Amelia spend so much time with someone she's slept with before. Maybe this will be good for her."

"If she can put up with Alcide, he should marry her. He's a hard guy to get along with."

"I'm not worried about it. Amelia can handle herself."

Eric helped me out of the car and walked me inside. To my surprise Alcide and Amelia were both dressed. Alcide was sitting on the couch watching a movie and Amelia was cuddled into his arm, asleep.

"Hey guys. Would you mind if we left Amelia's car here overnight and come back to get it tomorrow morning? I don't want her driving home alone when she's so tired."

"No problem. You can come back and get it whenever you're ready." Which I knew wouldn't be tomorrow morning. Amelia didn't like to wake up before noon if she could help it.

"I did a check about an hour ago. I'm taking Amelia home. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Alcide said as he hefted Amelia in his arms and headed out the door.

"Do you need any help?" Eric called after him.

"Nah, I got it," Alcide said as he opened the car door, reclined the seat, and buckled Amelia into the car.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to check the house one last time before we go to sleep," Eric said as he kissed me on the nose and headed out the door. "Lock the door behind me."

I shut the door behind him and laid my forehead against it. In the silence I started to think about the day I spent with Eric and how happy I had been. I started giggling when I thought about him biting the leaves and remembered we never even saw the picture. I wondered how long they kept them for...

I heard Eric walk up onto the porch so I tried to run away so he wouldn't see me waiting by the door.

He turned the knob and I realized I had forgotten to lock it.

When he opened the door it clipped my heel and I tripped and fell at the foot of the steps.

"Sookie! Are you okay? Why wasn't the door locked?"

It really wasn't that funny but I kept imagining what an idiot I must have looked like flailing as I fell to the ground and how stupid I probably looked sprawled on the floor. Eric tried to help me up but I rolled away laughing.

"Let me help you up."

"No. I like lying in the floor," I said as I continued to giggle at the look on his face.

"How much did you drink?"

"Not enough."

"Come on," he said as he picked me up caveman style and carried me upstairs.

He gently laid me on my bed and began taking my clothes off.

The feeling of Eric's hands on me, taking my clothes off, brought me out of my silly mood.

"Why Officer Northman! I do believe you are trying to take advantage of me!"

"Well you're wrong. Believe me. Next time we have sex you'll know completely what you're getting in to."

I sat there silent as he stripped me down to my underwear, and then walked out of the room. He returned with a big shirt and put it on me. It smelled like him.

"I have clean pajamas in the second drawer."

"I know, but I like you in my shirt better. Now go to sleep."

He tucked me in and I rolled over and closed my eyes. Eric kissed me on my forehead and walked out of the room. I opened my eyes when I heard the door close behind him and I was surprised, and a little disappointed, that he didn't try to cuddle with me.

I rolled back over to look out the window and I noticed a frame sitting on my nightstand. I got a closer look and realized it was the picture of Eric and me at the zoo. He must have bought it when I was in the bathroom but I had no idea how he hid it from me.

The picture was taken right after Eric had bitten the leaf and I had my head thrown back laughing. Eric was grinning at me with the leaf hanging out between his teeth.

It was the best picture I'd ever seen and I was really happy that I had the day just to relax. It also made me realize I was starting to like Eric more than I wanted. When Bill was caught, I was sure Eric would walk out of my life. Who wanted to be with a woman that came with so much baggage?

I didn't want to let Eric's impending departure ruin my good mood so I looked at the picture and I felt myself smiling as I fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: **Let me know what you guys thought about the chapter. BOE should be posted soon because I've been working on that one and I plan on posting it without the help of a beta as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** It's been a few *cough cough* months since I've posted so here is a quick run down of what has happened in this story so far.

_During Sookie's birthday party, police officer Eric was called to Sookie's house because of a noise complaint filed by her next-door neighbor and ex-boyfriend, Bill. Eric and his partner, Alcide, arrive at the party only to be mistaken for strippers. Sookie ends up sleeping with Eric and Amelia ends up taking Alcide home. Bill knocks on the door with the real strippers and Sookie finds out Eric lied to her. Feeling betrayed, and after getting out of a bad relationship with Bill, Sookie is weary about entering into any kind of relationship with Eric. After watching Eric leave Sookie's house the next day, Bill become enraged and scares Sookie enough to file a retraining order. Eric is the officer called to Sookie's house when she files the complaint. After hearing about Sookie's issues with Bill, Eric offers to stay with Sookie during his week of vacation. Sookie reluctantly agrees because she doesn't want anyone to get hurt and thinks Eric would be the best choice to stay with her since he is a police officer. Bill continues to threaten and harass Sookie anyway he can while Eric and Sookie try to find a way to prove he is the one harassing her. In the last chapter Sookie and Eric went on a date to the zoo while Alcide watched the house, now here we are at the next morning._

As always, I don't own these characters, CH does, I just like to play with them. And any mistakes are my own.

* * *

I started to wake up when I heard the echoing boom of thunder. I jumped up in bed before I realized what it was. After getting over the general shock, I laid back in bed for a minute to get my bearings. Memories of the day before filtered through my mind and I felt my face split into a smile. It'd been such a long time since I had been to the zoo and felt so carefree. It seemed like Eric knew how to help me unwind.

Speaking of Eric… I looked at the clock and it was almost 10 a.m. It was darker than normal, because of the storm, so it seemed earlier than what it really was. Ever since Bill started stalking me, I was nervous to sleep for too long, and I was surprised Eric hadn't come to wake me up. I decided to get up and see what he was up to.

As I rolled out of bed I noticed that I was wearing Eric's t-shirt, and I remembered how he wanted me to wear it last night. The shirt wasn't quite long enough to be decent so I slipped on a pair of sleep shorts underneath it.

I decided to check Eric's room first since it was the closest place to start. I knocked lightly on his door but he didn't answer so I opened the door to check inside. To my surprise, Eric was still in bed, asleep. The bed looked too small for him, and I felt bad because his feet were hanging over the bottom of the mattress. That could not have been comfortable.

I was torn about whether I should wake him up or let him sleep. I decided to let him sleep while I made breakfast for us. As I headed downstairs I was well aware of the fact that Bill had been quiet since I left to the zoo. I was surprised that he hadn't tried to make contact with me yet since I was sure he was pissed that I left the house, especially with Eric.

Thinking of Bill instantly creeped me out. I wished I had woken Eric up instead of going downstairs alone but I didn't want to need Eric to protect me. I had lived on my own since Gran died and I resented the fact that I felt like I needed a man to protect me. With that in mind, I headed into the kitchen and prepared to make breakfast. I decided to settle for something quick and easy so I made pancakes, sausage links, and coffee.

While I was in the kitchen I remembered that I needed to check the cabinet for my missing underwear. I had been preoccupied at the zoo the day before so I didn't have a chance to check. But once I opened the cabinet, my suspicions were confirmed. My underwear bag was missing. Dammit! Now I just had to think of a way to get it back.

I thought Eric would be awake by the time I was finished making breakfast, but when he still hadn't come downstairs, I decided to take breakfast to him. It was the least I could do after everything he'd done for me.

I didn't want Eric's food to get cold, so before I made my own breakfast, I loaded Eric's breakfast onto a tray and carried it up the steps. I knocked on Eric's door, but when I was met with silence I decided to just go in. Eric was still asleep but this time he was curled into a ball on his side.

I wanted to take a quick peek around Eric's room before I woke him before I woke him. I set the tray on top of the dresser in the room and checked in all the cliché spots first. I looked under the bed, snuck my hand under the mattress and even tried to check under his pillow. I was glad I didn't find the bag under his pillow because that would have been creepy. Finally I decided I was going to look in the dresser drawers. I felt like I was invaded Eric's privacy but I was only looking for something he had taken from me first.

I opened the top drawer and came face to face with Eric's underwear. Feeling embarrassed, I almost slammed the drawer shut before I realized that's exactly what Eric would have wanted. He knew I would be embarrassed to go through his underwear. With a quick peek at Eric to make sure he was still asleep, I stuck my hand in his underwear drawer to do a quick check.

I was ecstatic when my hand encountered the little black bag from the shop I had visited earlier in the week. I didn't want Eric to know I had found my underwear, so I grabbed the underwear out of the bag and quickly ran and stashed it in my room before Eric woke up. Then I came back into Eric's room and straightened up his drawer, including putting the empty bag back in the bottom of his drawer. That way he would still assume he still had my underwear unless he actually looked inside the bag again.

Feeling satisfied by my snooping and clean up job, I shut Eric's underwear drawer and picked up his tray of breakfast from the top of the dresser.

I approached the bed and sat the tray on the bedside table. The tray knocked into a picture frame that I knew wasn't one of mine. My curiosity got the better of me so I decided to look and see what was in the frame. I was surprised to find that Eric had put the same picture on his nightstand as he did on mine, our zoo picture. I have to say, it melted my heart a little bit. Even though it had been great with Eric recently, our relationship, or whatever it was, had started completely ass backwards and I didn't know where we stood.

Pushing those confusing thoughts aside, I woke up Eric before his food got cold.

"Eric? Are you awake?" I asked as I nudged him gently.

"Mmmm," he groaned back, as he tried to turn away from me, which was not easy being such a big man in a small bed.

"Eric, get up."

"Just five more minutes."

"Do you even know how late it is? It's almost noon." It was really only about 10:30 a.m. but when someone was being a stubborn sleeper, if you lied to them about the time, they were more likely to get up. That was something I learned from trying to wake Jason up for school when we were little.

"Are you kidding me?" Eric asked as he jumped up in the bed.

"Yes actually. But it's still getting late. I softened the blow with breakfast," I told him as I motioned toward the tray.

"It still looks pretty early to me." Eric looked skeptically at the window as he picked up his tray.

"It was storming just a little bit ago. That's what woke me up actually. I never sleep this late."

"Here, have a seat," Eric said, scooting over on the bed after he noticed I was still standing.

"Oh no. That's okay, I was just bringing up your breakfast."

"Sookie, please sit and have breakfast with me. You've brought me more than enough."

"Okay, but I only brought one fork," I said as I slid onto the bed.

"We can share. I promise, I don't have cooties."

"If you did I probably would have caught them by now any way."

"You're right, even more reason not to be scared of sharing," Eric said as he passed me the fork.

I took a big bite of pancakes and passed the fork back.

"Since it's not almost noon, what time is it really?"

"It probably a little after 10:30 a.m."

"While it's not exactly late, it is later than I normally wake up. Must have been from being in the sun and heat all day yesterday."

"Probably, but it was totally worth it. I had so much fun yesterday."

"I'm glad," Eric said as he smirked at me. "It seemed like you had a lot of fun toward the end."

"Ha ha. I'm just going to go ahead and warn you now that I'm a lightweight. Normally I don't drink that much that fast."

"Ah, you weren't so bad. At least you're a silly drunk instead of a crying drunk."

"I was not drunk," I said as I rubbed the sticky fork on Eric's cheek. "I was just a little tipsy."

"You better watch it," Eric said as he grabbed the fork from me, dipped it in syrup and rubbed it across my chin.

"Hey! You watch it!" I tried to grab the fork back but Eric raised his arm way higher in the air than I could ever hope to get mine.

"Ah, ah, ah. You're making a mess."

"Yeah, I'm making you a mess."

"I would be careful if I were you. There's no way you would be able to take this fork from me."

"Wanna bet?"

"I would make a bet with you, but because I know I'll win, that would be taking advantage of you."

"You're just afraid you'll lose."

"Am not. If you're really dead set on making a bet with me, then I'll make one. Just remember, I warned you."

"What should the terms be?"

"Um, I don't know. What do you think?"

"Let's just make it a favor to be collected at a later date."

"No rules?"

"No rules."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"I'm not afraid of doing anything you ask of me. Besides, I know you wouldn't take it somewhere totally inappropriate like asking for sex."

"You trust me that much?"

"I trust you that much," I mimicked. "Besides, if you asked for sex I would just kick your ass."

"Okay then," Eric said, grinning at me. "If you can get this fork from me in the next three minutes, you win."

"Why do I have to do it in three minutes?"

"Because if I didn't give you a time limit you would never stop struggling until you got it. And three minutes because I don't want my coffee to get cold."

"Okay, I accept your bet. I bet I can get that fork in three minutes. Who is going to keep count?"

"Let me grab my phone and I'll put it on a timer."

"This is getting serious."

"Please, I'm not about to miss the chance to make you grant me any favor."

Eric reached over the side of the bed to find his phone, which had made its way onto the floor. Once he set the timer, and I set the tray a safe distance away, he looked back to me.

"The timer's set. Once I start the timer you have three minutes to try to get this fork out of my hand. If you can do it in less than three minutes, I'll grant you a favor to be redeemed at any time. However, if you can't, then you'll owe me a favor. Sound like a deal?" Eric asked as he stuck his hand out at me.

"Deal," I said as I shook his hand.

"Okay. On your marks, get set… GO!"

As soon as he yelled go I dove at him. He fell back onto the bed with the fork still above his head. I tried to climb him like a tree but he had a hand on my shoulder trying to keep me down.

I rolled to the side so his hand slipped off my shoulder and continued my ascent, being sure to use elbows as much as possible.

Eric didn't have much room at the head of the bed to squirm before he hit the wall and before he knew it, I was closing in on the fork.

"Shit Sookie, watch your knees."

"Give me that fork!"

"NEVER!"

I made it as far as Eric's face before he trapped me against his body by wrapping his arm around my waist. I struggled but I couldn't get free.

"Let go."

"I'm not letting you win this."

I glanced at Eric's phone and saw I had less than a minute left. There was no way I would be able to muscle my way out of Eric's arm so I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed him.

At first I thought it was a horrible idea because Eric's arm actually tightened around me instead of letting go. But the more I put into it, the more relaxed he became. It started as just a gentle brushing of my lips against his, but the kiss deepened as I stroked my tongue against the seam of his lips. I felt Eric's hand tangle in my hair, but when I still felt the one arm locked around my waist, I knew I had him. I struggled to make myself focus on the fork. I eased my eyes open and was glad to find Eric's eyes shut tight. The fork lay on the pillow beside Eric's head and I picked it up without Eric noticing. Once the fork was safely in my hand, I focused on the kiss.

I skimmed my unoccupied hand down Eric's face and grabbed the hair at the base of his neck to force his head back. He groaned and pushed our hips closer together. An instant shot of lust hit me just as Eric's phone started going off.

I slowly lifted my head and looked Eric in the eye.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

"Where is the fork?" Eric asked.

"I believe that I have it," I said, smiling as I held up the fork.

Eric narrowed his eyes. "You cheated."

"Did not."

"You kissed me just to get the fork away from me."

"Are you complaining?"

"I know I should but I can't. Any favor you ask of me would be worth that."

"Good. Because you lost fair and square."

"Yeah, yeah. Now let me up unless you plan on doing something about the situation you just created," Eric said, laughing as he tried to get up.

I could feel Eric's _situation_ pressing against my upper thighs, and although I was tempted, I knew I wasn't ready to take this any farther. We had really started to get along and I didn't want anything to jeopardize that.

"Sorry," I said, blushing.

"Never apologize for kissing me," he said as he rubbed his hand over my blush. "Even if you are doing it to cheat."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Again with the tongue. I swear I'm going to have to teach you how to use it."

I just snorted.

"So, what favor are you going to ask of me?" Eric asked as he stood up and collected his breakfast tray. "You need me to clean up the kitchen or the breakfast dishes?"

"I am not wasting my favor on dishes."

The pout on Eric's face made me laugh.

"I'll take the tray downstairs while you shower. Amelia and Alcide should be over later to pick up her car."

"Ah yes, the two lovebirds."

"I'm actually surprised they've managed to last more than one night."

"Me too," Eric said as he started to gather his clothes for his shower. "Amelia seems like she's good for him though. Much better than his ex, Debbie."

"What's the story with them?"

"Alcide and Debbie met in High School. They've had an on again off again relationship ever since. Neither one of them are able to be in a committed relationship yet Debbie just won't let Alcide go. She apparently has really terrible anger issues because no matter who breaks up with whom, Debbie goes completely crazy the minute Alcide shows interest in another girl."

"You think she could be the next Bill?"

"Nah, Debbie's a little crazy and might threaten Alcide's life but I doubt she could actually hurt him, even if she wanted to."

"I remember you mentioning her trying to burn his home down the morning after we met."

"You mean when we had sex? Could you possibly try any harder to forget it?" Eric asked as we walked downstairs.

"I wouldn't say I'm trying to forget it, more like I don't want to be tacky and bring it up every singe day."

"Are you calling me tacky?"

"I would never do that police officer Eric, stripper extraordinaire."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

"I never said that."

"You think like you could have done better?"

"I never said that either."

"I'd like to see you try to be a better stripper than me," Eric said as he stepped into the bathroom.

"Not going to happen," I replied as I shut the bathroom door in his face.

"Sookie," he groaned.

I giggled as I made my way into the kitchen. I heard the shower water kick on so I hurried to wash the breakfast dishes before the sink could change the temperature of the water in the shower.

I had just finished washing the plate Eric and I had shared when movement out of the kitchen window caught my attention. I looked out the window only to come face to face with Bill.

"AHHHH!" I screamed as I stumbled back and dropped the plate.

"Sookie?!" Eric yelled from the bathroom.

"Don't think you're safe just because your little boyfriend is here, you cheating bitch," Bill said from the window, before walking back toward the woods separating our houses.

Bill disappeared into the line of trees just as Eric emerged from the bathroom, dripping wet with a towel hanging from his waist.

"What happened? Sookie, what happened?" Eric asked as he grabbed ahold of my shoulders. I was so scared my entire body was trembling. I looked up into Eric's eyes and tears started to fall as my body shook uncontrollably with sobs. "Sookie, please talk to me. Tell me what happened," Eric begged as he dragged me closer to his body. His eyes darted to the window but I knew Bill was long gone by now. "You're scaring me." He pulled me back and his eyes sought my own, pleading with me to talk to him. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself before I could talk.

"Bill w-was in the window."

"Come here," Eric said as he led me away from the window and the broken plate on the floor. "I'm so fucking sorry. I never should have left you."

"That's ridiculous, Eric. I should b-be able to go into my own kitchen and wash the dishes without being harassed."

"I know honey, but unfortunately Bill won't let that happen right now. Did he say anything to you?"

"He told me not to t-think I was safe and he called me a cheating bitch." I shuttered as I remembered the look of evil on Bill's face.

Eric sat in a kitchen chair and pulled me into his lap. I cuddled as close to his body as I could. It seemed as though the only place I truly felt safe was in Eric's arms.

After about 10 minutes my heart rate began to calm and I finally noticed the position I was in with Eric. He was completely naked, except for the towel around his waist, his skin was starting to dry from the shower, and I was sitting fully on his lap with my arms wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped around my waist. After feeling the change in my demeanor, Eric pulled back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded as I took another calming breath.

I got off of Eric's lap and stood on shaky legs.

"What do we do now?" I asked as Eric steadied me with his hands.

"Well, we can check the cameras to make sure we have Bill on video. That would be proof of him violating his restraining order. Then we'll have to call the police."

"You should finish your shower first while I clean up this plate."

"Oh no, I'm not leaving you alone again."

"Eric, I'll be okay."

"I know Sookie, just please, sit in the bathroom with me while I finish my shower."

I was going to argue until I noticed he was visibly shaking. I nodded and reached out my hand to him and led him into the bathroom.

Eric stepped into the shower and closed the curtain before he took off his towel and draped it over the shower rod. I sat on the closed toilet and tried not to think about a naked Eric two feet away from me.

"Sookie?"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said as soon as I finish this shower I'm going to call Alcide. I'm technically on vacation so I can't talk to Bill in a professional capacity but Alcide can. I trust him to handle this the right way."

"Is he on duty now?"

"I'm not sure who they have him partnered with while I'm on vacation but if he's not on right now, he should be later."

Eric shut off the water and his towel disappeared from the shower rod. He opened the shower curtain and I felt like I couldn't breath. A violent ex-boyfriend had just harassed me but Eric's wet body still had the ability to set my body on fire.

Eric grabbed my hand and began to lead me upstairs before he stopped.

"Er, you better go first."

"Are you afraid Bill somehow got into the house?" I asked worried.

"No, nothing like that. It's just that you might be able to see up my towel if you walk behind me."

"Then why didn't you get dressed in the bathroom?"

"You were in the bathroom with me so I didn't think you would have appreciated if I had gotten naked in front of you and you can take a shower while I get dressed and check the cameras."

Eric motioned me ahead of him and I started up the stairs first. I looked back before we made it to the top of the steps and I saw Eric staring at my ass. At least having to deal with my crazy ex hadn't sent him running for the hills.

Eric stopped in his room to get dressed while I went to my bathroom to take a shower. When I removed Eric's shirt, I hung it up on a hook in the bathroom rather than give it back to Eric. His shirt was extremely comfortable, and if I was being honest, I wanted to keep that little piece of Eric. I tried to get in and out of the shower as fast as possible because I couldn't hear a thing happening in the house while the water was running. When I emerged from the shower and had gotten dressed, Eric wasn't anywhere in sight. Worried something had happened while I was in there, I called out for him.

"I'm just down in the living room looking at the security footage."

I followed his voice downstairs and saw Eric sitting on the couch looking at the video. I noticed the broken plate had been cleaned up and all of the dishes were washed and put away.

"I looked at the footage and you can clearly see Bill coming onto your property. This is exactly what we needed to get him in trouble."

"Are you going to call Alcide?"

"Yeah, I'll put it on speaker so you can hear too."

Eric grabbed my house phone from the receiver and dialed Alcide's number. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you busy? I need to talk to you for a second."

"Nah, me and Amelia were just on our way over to pick up her car."

"That's perfect. We can talk more when you get here but we have an issue."

"What kind of issue?" Alcide asked, reacting to Eric's tone of voice.

"Bill paid Sookie a visit today to try and scare her. That's violating the restraining order and we got it on tape."

"Mother fucker," Alcide growled.

"What? What is it?" we heard Amelia ask in the background.

"Nothing baby."

"Don't you nothing me! Something's happening with Sookie and I want to know what!"

"Alcide, tell her I'll talk to her when she gets her and not to worry," I piped up.

Alcide relayed the message and Amelia stopped screaming in the background. Eric hung up the phone and we waited for them to show up. Eric made a copy of the clip of Bill popping up on my property for Alcide to take back with him.

Fifteen minutes after we hung up, Alcide's truck pulled up outside of my house. Alcide barely stopped the car before Amelia hopped out and run up to my house. When I opened the door she threw her arms around me.

"Oh my God sweetie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ames."

"Tell me what happened."

I told Amelia the basics of the story, which mainly included me washing dishes and Bill popping up in the window. I didn't want to tell her about my morning with Eric, especially not while everyone was around. Amelia was not known for being subtle and I didn't want Eric to know I was talking about him.

When Alcide got in the house, Eric led him to the living room and showed him the video footage. Seeing Bill on the screen made me shudder. He blatantly looked into the camera as he walked across my property. It was clear he was not worried about the restraining order.

"Look at the arrogant asshole stroll onto your property like that. He can't just do that! What are you going to do about this, Alcide?" Amelia asked with her hands planted on her hips.

"Well, once I start my shift tonight, I can go over and talk to him. We can place him under arrest tonight but to be honest, he won't be held for long. Has he ever been in trouble with the police before?"

"Not that I know of."

"If this is a first time offense, it's unlikely he'll face any real punishment. In a professional sense, there isn't much I can do."

"And in an unprofessional sense?" I asked.

"I can break his fucking neck."

"As much as I love you for saying that, something tells me that's not a great idea."

"I would still do it. I know we don't know each other very well but you're Amelia's best friend and she's been worried sick about you. The only peace of mind she has is that Eric's staying with you. And once this week is over, you'll be here all alone with a psycho living next door."

"Don't scare her you fucking idiot," Amelia said as she smacked him in the back of the head.

"No, no, it's okay. He's only telling the truth. Once Eric leaves, I'll be trapped here with Bill. A restraining order and security cameras sound great, but they're only good after the fact. If Bill decided to attack me, all the security cameras will be able to do is prove he did it, they won't protect me."

"Once Eric leaves I'll stay over here with you, Sook," Amelia said as she smiled at me, but I could still read the fear in her eyes.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. Just because I'm too stubborn to leave this house doesn't mean I have to drag other people down with me."

"I know you don't want to leave this house because of the history and the memories, but your life is worth more than that. What would I do if something happened to you? I can't live without my best friend."

"We're not going to let anything happen to her," Eric interrupted. "This has to end before this week is up because I cannot leave Sookie alone in this house with that maniac next door and I don't want other people to get involved in this. Sookie would never forgive herself if someone she loved got hurt because Bill was trying to get to her."

"You're right, Eric. But what can we do?" I asked.

"We're going to have to take this one step at a time. The first thing we need to do is have Alcide talk to Bill as soon as his shift starts. We need to see how that goes before we make our next move."

Alcide and Amelia stayed and talked a little bit longer before they left. To be honest, I was getting tired of talking about Bill. It just frayed my nerves even more and I found myself physically exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked me after we walked Alcide and Amelia to the door.

"Yeah, I just feel so tired."

"Why don't you take a nap?"

"I don't think I could settle my nerves enough to sleep."

Eric looked at me with concern before he grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. "The point of me being here is so I can watch out for you. You have nothing to worry about as long as I'm here. I want you to relax and take a nap. Let me worry about Bill for a while."

"It's not your responsibility, Eric. I hate that I had to drag you into this in the first place."

When we made it to my bedroom, I begrudgingly obeyed Eric and climbed into bed, although I doubted I would be able to fall asleep. To my surprise, Eric joined me on the bed.

"First of all, you didn't drag me into this, I jumped. And secondly, don't you dare feel guilty for any of this. Whether you wanted my help or not, I wouldn't have left you out here with Bill. You're just making my job easier by letting me stay in the house with you rather than camping out in my car."

"You'd do that for me?" I asked Eric as I scooted closer to his body.

"One day you'll know me well enough to where you won't even have to ask me that question."

I looked up at Eric and smiled before I buried my face into the space between his neck and shoulder. I breathed in his scent and instantly relaxed. Eric kissed me on the top of my head and began stroking my hair.

"Are you going to take a nap too?"

"No, I'm just going to make sure nothing happens while you rest peacefully. I'm no where near tired."

"Thank you for everything, Eric. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"Being able to spend time with you is payment enough. Now just relax and fall asleep," Eric said as he continued to rub my hair. Even though I felt completely high strung, my body began to relax as I molded my body into Eric's

My final thoughts before I fell asleep were how happy I was that I had met Eric. And what was I going to do once it came time for him to leave?

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Next up will be an update for BOE that I'm still working on. I've gotten a lot of reviews and PMs that I'll be working on responding to as well since a lot of you have had some question regarding both stories.

Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Hello everybody. There's actually a couple of important things I have to tell you so I hope everyone reads this. If you read my other story you'll have seen that I re-edited that story and that I was going to re-edit this story before I posted any more chapters. Well, that happened so I need to tell you about some things that were edited.

The biggest change is that I added a conversation between Sookie and Jason in chapter 5. After rereading the story I realized I had mentioned Jason several times but he never actually made an appearance. The actual conversation isn't that important but it's there.

The only other major change I made to the storyline is I had completely forgotten about the underwear Sookie had bought so I added a scene in chapter 8 where Sookie found the underwear that Eric had hidden away.

I feel like such an idiot for adding in these scenes after I already posted the chapters but I was not very organized when I first started writing and it showed. After rereading both of my stories I took a ton of notes to make sure I won't have those kinds of mistakes again and I'm MUCH more organized now.

I think that's all I had to tell you other than this chapter is really freaking long. It had 8,945 words before the A/Ns and it ended up being 22 pages long.

Anywho, as always, I don't own the characters and any remaining mistakes are my own.

* * *

I came awake slowly and felt completely surrounded by something warm and hard.

"Eric?"

"Yeah, Sookie?"

"What time is it?"

"It's about 2:30 p.m."

I nodded and took notice of my surroundings as I became more awake. Once again I was lying on my side and Eric was spooned behind me. I was lying in the nook of one arm while the other was wrapped around my waist. It seemed like I was waking up like that a lot these days.

"Are you feeling better?" Eric asked.

"I guess. I didn't really mean to fall asleep that long."

"Don't worry about it. You probably haven't been getting enough sleep lately and it has been a stressful day."

Eric's reminder brought it all back to me. The fun, carefree morning I'd had with Eric had been interrupted when I saw Bill staring at me through my kitchen window. He didn't look like the man I'd spent the last four years with. It was like he had removed his mask and I was finally getting a look at the monster he really was.

"Hey, it's okay. Nothing happened while you were asleep. He hasn't shown up again," Eric said as he felt me tense up.

"You've been lying here awake this whole time?"

"I said I would, didn't I?"

"But I've been asleep for almost three hours."

"Well you must have needed it. And believe me, it was no hardship watching over you while you slept."

I grabbed the hand that Eric had wrapped around my waist and squeezed it. I didn't know how to express the gratitude I'd felt toward Eric. I couldn't believe a man I had just met four days ago was sacrificing so much just to help me. I wanted to lay in bed with Eric forever and forget everything else going on but unfortunately that wasn't an option.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Eric asked when I sat up in bed.

"I have to go to work today."

"What? You never told me you had to work today?"

"It must have slipped my mind. I guess I just wasn't used to having someone to answer to since I broke up with Bill."

The look on Eric's face made me regret saying that. He looked like I had just slapped him.

Eric didn't even bother responding. He just got out of bed and started to leave the room.

"Eric wait!" I yelled as I jumped out of bed after him.

"Sookie, I don't think I even want to talk to you right now. Christ, I've uprooted my life for a girl I met less than a week ago and yet here she sits comparing me to the psycho I'm trying to protect her from just because I didn't know she had to go into work today?"

"I'm sorry, okay?"

"No, it's not okay. It's like you're two different people. One minute you're so happy and carefree and the next minute I'm scared to be near you because I'm afraid I'll say something to set you off."

That was what I was scared of most when I thought of having a relationship with Eric. I didn't think he would be able to handle the baggage of me being in a relationship with Bill.

"I know how I am. I know I get defensive, and I'm working on it. But for goodness sakes Eric, I just got out of a mentally abusive relationship a month ago. And Bill may never have laid his hands on me but he wasn't far from it. For three and a half years of that relationship Bill kept constant tabs on me. He would always question me about where I was going and whom I was going with. He would get pissed at me for going to work because he thought Sam liked me. He tried to get me to quit but I would never do it. I didn't want to be dependent on Bill. Then I would never have been able to get away from him. I know I lash out at you sometimes when you say things that remind me of Bill but I can't help it. I need you to have patience with me. You're trying so hard to wiggle your way into my life when I don't think you can handle it. You're so eager to chase after Bill but you don't want to deal with the mess he left behind!"

By the time I was finished I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and I was feeling choked up. Would I ever be whole again after what Bill had done to me? Would I ever be able to find someone that could handle this emotional wreck I'd turned into?

Before I could contemplate the answers to my internal monologue, I was crushed against Eric's chest.

"I'm so fucking sorry, Sookie. Sometimes it just hard to believe that you'd been in a relationship like that. When you're laughing and smiling it's so easy to forget the hell you'd been living in for years."

"Eric, stop. You don't have to apologize," I said as I tried to pull away from him.

"No, I do," he replied as he held me tighter. "After you told me about Bill I knew there would be things that still bothered you. I'm not used to dealing with something like this but that doesn't mean you're not worth it. The way we were at the zoo showed me that we can be good together, but every time Bill pops back up everything falls apart. And that's what he wants, Sookie. He doesn't want you to be happy and to find someone else. Once Bill's out of the picture once and for all, it'll be easier to move on and to heal."

"You're right," I said as I hugged Eric tighter. This was a conversation that we needed to have. We had been dealing with Bill's physical appearances but ignoring the toll it was taking on me emotionally.

"Are we okay?"

"Yeah. I feel like such an idiot for completely blowing up like that."

"Don't. It's completely natural considering everything you've been though, and now that we talked about it, we can moved passed it. Okay?"

"Yes."

After our little pep talk Eric went to his room to call Alcide and I started getting ready for work. It was my first day back to work since the day of my party and I was a little nervous to be going back. Things with Bill had definitely escalated since the last time I was at work.

I had just finished putting on my uniform, throwing my hair up into a ponytail, and applying a little bit of make-up when Eric came back into my room.

"I just got off the phone with Alcide. He starts his shift around six tonight and he's going to talk to Bill right away. Like Alcide said before, he can be arrested for violating the restraining order but he probably won't remain in jail for long."

"I know," I sighed.

"How is this going to work out, with you going to work? Should I come to work with you or should I stay here?"

"I think it would be best if you stayed here, if you don't mind. Bill won't be able to do anything to me while I'm at work. There are too many people around and I'm never alone at work. Besides, once Alcide starts his shift, Bill will be in jail. And this way I won't have to worry about Bill doing something to my house because you'll be here."

"I still don't like that idea of you going to work by yourself."

"I'll be fine. Sam'll be there and he's too watchful to let anything happen to me, especially where Bill is concerned."

"What time do you leave?"

"I have to be there by four so I'll have to leave soon."

"It's going to be weird being in your house without you."

"I know but I bet you'll find something to entertain yourself with. _Buffy _is still in the DVD player if you get bored."

When it was finally time for me to leave Eric stood in the doorway and watched me leave for work. He didn't shut the front door until I was already driving away. Before I left, we exchanged phone numbers after realizing we didn't have each other's numbers. Eric only had the number to my house phone from the police report and I'd never had a reason to call Eric so I didn't have his number.

_Eric: Text me when u get 2 work so I know ur ok._

_Me: Not really safe 2 text while driving…_ I texted back when I'd stopped at a red light.

_Eric: Didn't ask u 2 text while driving. Text me when u get there._

_Me: If u want me 2 stop texting u u should stop responding. _I texted when I'd stopped at a deserted intersection. As much as I liked to tease Eric, I was not one of those reckless people that texted while driving a moving vehicle.

After my last message Eric didn't text back and it made me laugh. I couldn't help but to tease him. I wanted to break the tension we had created when I'd woken up from my nap. One way to do that was not to freak out about Eric wanting me to text him when I got to work. I knew it was only because he wanted to make sure I got to work okay, and not because he was keeping tabs on me. Eric was nothing like Bill and I needed to remember that.

I pulled into the employee parking lot of Merlotte's and saw Sam waiting at the back door.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as I got out of my car.

"With all this crap happening with Bill I wanted to make sure you made it into work okay and I didn't want you to have to worry about Bill sneaking up on you out here."

"Thanks Sam," I said as I beamed at him. It was a little overwhelming having everyone fuss over me like they were but it was nice to know I had so many people that loved and cared about me.

Once I got inside the building I headed straight to the bar to grab my apron.

"Hey Sookie!" Tara said as she spotted me. "I haven't seen you since your birthday party. What've you been up to?" Tara asked me with an amused smirk on her face.

"Before I tell you anything, tell me what you know," I replied. I didn't want to show her my hand until she showed me hers.

"Well, I know you disappeared with one of the strippers and didn't emerge until after we all left. And I know I haven't heard from you since then. So spill it. You've been shacked up with that hot blond or what?"

So it wasn't about Bill then. If Tara wanted a little bit of gossip about Eric I'd be glad to give it to her. I didn't have many friends to confide in and I'd already told Amelia everything. Besides, I knew better than to mention Bill around Tara. She hated him almost as much as I did.

"Well, after we went upstairs, he did a little show just for me… and then we kind of had sex," I mumbled.

"SOOKIE!"

"Shh. Keep it down!"

"Sorry but I didn't think you were going to say that. I would expect it from Amelia but not from you. Damn. I can't lie though, I'm a little jealous."

"Oh stop. I haven't had sex with him since that first night so there's nothing to be jealous about."

"So you've seen him since then? You've been holding out on me!"

"It's complicated and I can't get into it right now. I have to get to work," I said as I walked toward my section of tables.

I didn't really want to tell Tara the full story about Bill and Eric, but I was finding it harder to lie to everyone. The longer this situation went on, the more likely it was that someone would come by my house. Once they got there they would see the cameras and lights and start asking questions. Not the mention the fact that all my doors and windows would be locked up tight in the middle of the summer.

The fact of the matter was, my relationship with Bill made me feel like a loser, and it was hard to admit such a weakness to my family and friends. I knew they all hated Bill while we were dating and Bill had convinced me that it was because they were jealous of our relationship. I was ashamed of the person I had become while dating Bill, and now that I was out of the fog of that relationship, I felt like the ghosts were still haunting me. I felt like I would never get rid of the stain on my life that was Bill Compton.

While I contemplated what to do when people started asking questions, I got to work waiting on tables and cleaning up messes. My shift moved pretty slowly with nothing exciting happening, and for once I was grateful for the boring shift. It meant nothing was going wrong.

It was almost time for my break but I wanted to get the order started on the new table that had just walked in before I passed it over to Arlene. Thankfully Arlene had been so drunk at my birthday that she didn't realize I had run off with Eric. If anyone were going to be judgmental or start rumors, it would have been Arlene.

"Hi, I'm Sookie and I'll be your waitress this evening," I said as I approached the table.

"Sookie!" yelled Portia, Andy's sister.

"Oh hey! I didn't recognize you behind the booth. How've you been?"

"Oh gosh, I've been busy. Andy's been out of town and the Sherriff was sick so I've been helping out at the station answering the phone. I'm just glad Shreveport was able to spare a few cars around here. Thankfully the Sherriff is feeling better and Andy's coming back in town tomorrow so everything should go back to normal."

"You mean the cops from Shreveport are leaving?"

"Oh yes. They've been a big help but they don't know much about Bon Temps and how we do things here."

Portia placed her usual order and I hurried to the kitchen to get it started.

"Hey Sook," Lafayette called from the kitchen. "You've been flying in and out of here your whole shift. I haven't even had a chance to say hello."

"I've just been busy. Gotta make those tips," I said as I ran away from him again. I didn't feel like answering everyone's questions and I still didn't know what I was going to do about everyone questioning why I'd become such a shut in. The whole point of me lying to everyone was to keep them as far away from Bill as possible but it was starting to seem like that wasn't as good of an idea as I'd hoped. Everyone was used to me being outgoing and happy since I'd broken up with Bill and now it seemed like I was doing a complete 180. I'd have to talk to Eric when I got home and see what he thought I should do.

Fuck, Eric. I doubt he knew about the Shreveport cops going back. He had been texting me off and on throughout my shift asking how things were going and keeping me updated while I was away. I doubt he knew Alcide would be going back to Shreveport full time since he hadn't mentioned it to me. And that meant Eric would be going back to Shreveport too come Saturday.

I was on my way to the break room when I saw Amelia walk into Merlotte's.

"Hey Ame, I was just about to take my break."

"I know. I need to talk to you."

Her tone of voice made me think something was wrong so I slid my phone out of my apron to make sure I hadn't missed a text from Eric. Without any missed calls or texts, I at least knew it wasn't about Bill.

"Okay, come on back to the break room."

"Are you sure Sam won't get pissed at me again? Every time he catches me back there he always bitches at us. 'Sookie, I've told you a million times, no non-employees in the break room,'" Amelia said, doing her best Sam impression, which was horrible.

"Sam won't even notice you're back there if you keep it down. No more of what happened last time."

"Well last time I wasn't expecting my girlfriend's boyfriend to call and cuss me out. I wasn't going to sit there and let him talk to me like that."

"Well stop dating people that are already in a relationship," I told Amelia as we stepped into the back room.

"You know what they say, all the good ones are either gay or already taken," Amelia joked.

"If they're a girl it would benefit you if they were gay, and if they're taken and cheating with you, they can't be that good. Besides, Alcide seems nice and he's not gay or taken."

"Eh, Alcide's a good fuck but I don't see it going anywhere. Which is actually what I came here to talk to you about."

"I don't want to hear about you and Alcide fucking again."

"Not that!" Amelia said as she rolled her eyes at me, like she hadn't been calling me with all of the details of her sex life. "He called me today and said tonight was going to be his last night in Bon Temps. By tomorrow Andy and the Sherriff will be back and they won't be needed."

"I heard. Portia came in right before I went on break and told me."

"At least you get a couple more nights with your cop. Tonight is my last," Amelia sighed.

"Eric's not my cop and it's not like we're exactly together like you and Alcide are. And besides, Eric's only got a few more days here anyway."

"You don't sound exactly excited to be getting rid of him."

"Why would I? We may have had a few misunderstandings but that doesn't mean that I don't like him. He barely knew me before he volunteered to stay at my house and protect me from Bill. Plus he's been doing everything to make sure that Bill gets put behind bars. Not to mention the fact that my house hasn't been so lonely since he's started staying with me. To be honest, when he leaves I'm going to miss him."

"Don't you think you should tell him that?"

"No way. You don't see anything happening between you and Alcide and I don't see anything happening between Eric and I." The argument Eric and I had had before I'd left for work proved that we weren't completely good together.

"When things don't work out between Alcide and I, it's not because I didn't try. Alcide isn't ever going to settle down and as much as it seems like I like jumping around from person to person, I don't. I'll admit, I was a bit scared of relationships in the past. That's why I dated a lot of people already in relationships. I was an outlet for sex, not someone they were looking to settle down with, and that was safe. But Alcide's been practically living with me and I haven't felt like killing him yet."

"Damn. When you first moved to Bon Temps and stayed with me we weren't able to live together long before we felt like killing each other."

"Exactly."

"Well did you tell Alcide how you feel?"

"Believe me, I tried. We don't just have sex all the time, we actually talk. Do you know what he said when I confessed that I was bisexual? He said, 'Well maybe we can finally have that threesome I've wanted.' He doesn't see me as anything more than someone to have sex with."

"Amelia…"

"And I'm okay with that, really," Amelia interrupted as if I'd never started talking. "I've spent my entire life jumping from bed to bed, so it's only fair that when I meet someone I actually like, they can't wait to jump from my bed to the next."

"I'm sure it's not like that," I said trying to console her. I could tell she was getting upset talking about Alcide and it was starting to make me upset. Amelia was always so open about her relationships, never caring to settle down. To see her now, so emotional about Alcide leaving her was something definitely out of character.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Amelia said, wiping any trace of emotion from her face. "Have you heard from Eric today?"

"He's been texting me every so often just so I won't get worried," I said, letting Amelia change the subject even though we'd already talked about Eric texting me. I would be sure to mention the topic of Alcide and Amelia to Eric later.

"I bet that's a relief being able to come to work and not worry about Bill. Alcide's already had enough time to talk to Bill so I'm sure they'll have good news when you get home."

"I hope so. I would like nothing more than for this to be over."

"Have you talked to your brother since Saturday?"

"I talked to him the other day. I still haven't told him about Bill because I know Jason and he'll try to take the law into his own hands. I can't deal with having my brother in jail on top of everything else."

"You have to tell him something. You know Jason stops by your house all the time unannounced. What are you going to tell him when he pops up and sees you've got your house guarded like Fort Knox?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I know I'm going to have to tell everyone eventually but I just don't know what to say to them. You know they all hated Bill anyway and I'd basically be confirming their suspicions."

"Who cares? Nobody blames you for being with Bill or for what he did. You need to tell everyone what kind of person he is and what he's been doing to you so they know it's not safe to be around him. It'll be better for everyone that way. I know better than to show up at your house at night because I don't want you to have to open the door to let me in but Tara doesn't know that. What are you going to do if she pops up at your house and the lights come on? You're going to have to open the door because you can't leave her out there with Bill lurking around but it's putting you in danger to have to open the door."

"It shouldn't have to be like that Ame."

"It shouldn't but it is. Until Bill is caught and you're safe, you have to live like that. You can't be hardheaded and live recklessly just because you don't want to give Bill the satisfaction of knowing he's scared you."

"I know. I have to go back to work but I get off in a few hours. When I get home I'll talk to Eric and see what ended up happening with Bill. When I get word I'll call you and let you know."

After Amelia left I got back to work and before I knew it it was time to go home. I tried to avoid Tara and Lafayette for the rest of the night, which wasn't easy. I think Sam could tell I was uncomfortable because whenever Tara or Laf stopped me to talk, Sam was there to run interference.

When I was ready to go to my car, Sam walked me out to the parking lot. I was surprised to find Amelia waiting for me.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I figured I would follow you home from work and see what Eric and Alcide had to say about Bill."

Amelia was fidgeting and wouldn't look me in the eye so I knew there had to be something she wasn't telling me.

"Why would Alcide be at my house? He's still working, isn't he? Have you talked to him? Did he tell you anything about Bill?"

"No… Can we just go to your house and see what they have to say?" Amelia's demeanor had changed since I saw her on my break and it made me wonder what had happened since then. She kept looking around us and it was freaking me it. It was like she was looking for someone.

"They arrested Bill and he's already out, isn't he?"

"Sookie, just get in your car and talk to the cops when you get there," Sam interrupted. He all but ushered me into my car. "You don't know if they arrested Bill or not and you're standing around here talking about him looking like sitting ducks."

I would have snapped at Sam for telling me what to do except I tried to keep the talk I had with Eric in mind. Sam was right and he was only trying to help me so I bit my tongue and got in my car. I immediately called Eric.

"Sookie? Is something wrong?" Eric asked as soon as he answered.

"I don't know Eric, you tell me. Is something wrong?"

"Is Amelia with you?" Eric asked, completely ignoring my question.

"Yeah, she's following right behind me. What's going on?"

"We'll talk when you get here."

"Why can't you just tell me now?! You're all freaking me out!"

"Just calm down and get home, okay? The last thing we need is you getting into an accident just because I want to wait to tell you anything until you get home."

"I don't like being managed Eric."

"I know and I'm glad you're not biting my head off right now. So, how was work?"

Eric was changing the subject but I knew he wasn't going to tell me anything until I got home. Between Amelia and Eric, I knew something had gone wrong and I was really worried. When I pulled up to the house I hung up from Eric and he came out onto the front porch. I had almost made it up the steps when I saw someone emerging from the woods. I screamed before I realized it was only Alcide.

When I looked back at Eric, I was surprised to see he had his gun drawn. I was even more surprised to see Amelia wielding a gun.

"What in the fuck is going on around here!?" I yelled, completely done with being out of the loop.

"Get in the house and we'll explain," Eric said as he led me into the house, followed by Amelia and Alcide.

As soon as we all got inside Alcide shut and locked the door. Eric led me into the living room and sat me on the couch. He sat on one side of me, Amelia sat on the other, and Alcide sat in the chair.

"Sookie, Alcide is going to tell you what happened today and I want you to listen to him without interrupting. Got it?" Amelia asked. She was probably the only person that could get away with talking to me like that.

Happy to finally be getting some answers, I nodded.

"As soon as I started my shift I headed over to Bill's house since I'd just gotten the call that we would be going back to Shreveport at the end of the night. I wanted to make sure I was the one that talked to Bill and would deal with him once he was arrested since the case is personal. Unfortunately, when I went to Bill's house, he wasn't there."

"I hope you didn't just knock on the door and leave when he didn't answer. Did you wait around to see if he would show up?" I asked completely ignoring Amelia's orders, which earned me a glare from her.

"You don't understand. He wasn't there, at all. His house didn't look like it'd been lived in for a while. I thought it was strange that his house looked so deserted so I went to where Bill works and they said that he had been fired a few weeks ago for not calling and not showing up. We have no idea where Bill is staying but I think it's somewhere close. Like really close."

"What does that mean?" I asked, obviously not getting what he was hinting at.

"For God's sake Sookie! Alcide thinks Bill is living in the woods around your house!"

"WHAT!?" This conversation was not starting out how I'd imagined. This was even worse than I could have ever expected. "What makes you think Bill's living in the woods?" I asked after I had a second to process what was being said to me.

"When I went to Bill's house his car was in the driveway but there was no answer at the door. I thought I smelled something burning so I had probable cause to check inside the house." The look Alcide gave me told me he was just using that as an excuse to legally be able to go inside Bill's house without a warrant. "Once inside it was obvious no one was living in the house. There were no groceries, no used dishes, and no garbage. I walked through the woods connecting your houses to talk to Eric and I noticed an area disturbed in the woods where it looked like someone had been camping. But then I thought, 'Who would be camping out between two residential houses like that?' So I walked through the woods a bit more and found more areas surrounding your house that indicated someone had been staying in the woods. We're assuming it's Bill since you've seen him at your house and when he'd leave he'd walk into the woods, but he's not living at his own house."

What I was hearing was so chilling I felt like I was going to be sick. Eric reached his arm around me. I hadn't realized it but I was physically shaking.

"That's why we sent Amelia to pick you up from work," Eric interrupted. "Alcide called her and told her what was happening. I wanted to wait at the house to make sure Bill didn't pop up, Alcide was combing through the woods trying to find signs of Bill and he thought it would be best to send Amelia with a gun to make sure Bill didn't try to attack you when you left work."

"Why did you trust Amelia with a gun, exactly?"

"Believe it or not, the girl knows how to shoot," Alcide said. "Besides, it's unlikely she would have even had to use it with Sam there."

"I can't believe this is happening," I said, still in shock. It was like I couldn't focus on one thing for too long because all of this information was coming at me at once. "It was scary enough knowing Bill was walking across the woods to stalk me. It's even scarier knowing he's living in the woods around my house so he can stalk me all the time. What am I supposed to do? Knowing this makes me scared to even walk past the doors and windows."

"I know you don't want to leave your house, but I'm not comfortable with you staying here," Eric said.

"To be honest, I'm not really comfortable staying here either," I replied.

"Sook, I know you didn't want anyone to know about Bill but after Alcide told me about him living in the woods, I called Jason," Amelia said.

"You what? Ames, the last thing I need is for Jason to be involved in all of this."

"Well like it or not, we're all involved in this," Amelia said gently. "Alcide, Eric, and I were talking about it while you were at work and I think you should go with Eric to his apartment tonight. It's not safe for you to stay here and honestly I don't know how you're going to be able to sleep in this house knowing that Bill is out in those woods watching you. I already called Sam too. He said he was going to tell Tara and Laf after you left because we all know this embarrasses you. Honestly Sookie, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. None of us blame you. When you first started dating Bill you didn't know he was going to end up like this and even though we all didn't like him, we didn't see something like this happening either. The smartest and safest thing to do is to get the hell out of this house and to warn people until Bill is caught."

"How can I do that?"

"Well you don't have to worry about your friends and family anymore because I handled that. Jason's pissed but he's happy you're safe. He wants you to call him by the way. I talked to Sam on the way over here and he said Tara and Laf are worried about you. Since Bill knows where Tara lives she's going to stay with Laf for a few days. She's worried Bill would come looking for you at her house if he can't find you here."

"But Bill knows where you live too…"

"I know and I've already thought about that. I'm going to go down to Orleans for a bit. I'm going to catch up with Octavia and my dad."

"You're leaving?" I asked panicked.

"Not for good, I could never leave for good. But you're safe with Eric and you know if Bill's gonna be looking for you anywhere it's going to be with me. I don't want to be alone in my house when he shows up."

"I'm basically running everyone out of their houses!" I couldn't believe this was happening. Tara was going to live with Lafayette and Amelia was leaving town?

"Sookie, stop. It's not your fault. We're all just doing what we have to to be safe. I'll be safe with my dad and Octavia. Tara will be safe with Laf and you'll be safe with Eric. It's not forever, it's just until Bill's caught."

"But no one knows how long that'll take. And Alcide is leaving back to Shreveport tonight. No one else is going to take this seriously. Bill has Andy and the Sherriff fooled."

"Actually, I talked to our captain today and he's had a talk with the Sherriff in Bon Temps. Since Eric filed the restraining order, they're allowing him to stay in Bon Temps to finish out the case. Since Eric's on vacation and the case kind of fell to me, I can keep working on it, even after the rest of the cops go back to Shreveport," Alcide spoke up.

"How are you going to do that? You can't do this by yourself. Bill is dangerous."

"My temporary partner has agreed to work with me. It's just until Sunday when Eric starts back. Tray's a good cop so I'm not worried about being left in Bon Temps. When Amelia called your brother he offered to let us stay with him so I don't have to worry about driving back and forth to Shreveport. I'm driving back to Shreveport tonight though to pick up my stuff and Tray and we're coming back here."

"I bet you're lucky Jason never let Bill come to his house now, aren't you?" Amelia teased, trying to lighten the mood.

I was just trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened since I'd gotten off work.

Amelia basically came to pick me up from work loaded with a gun, everyone I was trying to keep in the dark about Bill now knew, Amelia and Tara would be moving, temporarily at least, to keep safe from Bill who was apparently living in the woods around my house, and everyone wanted me to stay with Eric in Shreveport. It was a lot to handle.

"Sookie, I know you don't like having your choices taken from you so I'm going to give you a choice. We can leave tonight for my apartment or we can stay here in Bon Temps and hope Bill doesn't do anything drastic before he's caught."

I couldn't believe what he was saying to me. After everything I'd put him through and after them telling me how dangerous Bill had become, Eric was still giving me the option of staying in my house. I don't think what I was feeling at that moment was love but it wasn't far off. Eric was such an amazing person and I would be an idiot to throw that away because of my own insecurities.

"I appreciate the option but honestly, I want to get the hell out of here. If I didn't think Bill was unhinged after everything else he'd done to me, this would have proved it. Camping out in the woods outside someone's house is completely insane."

"Thank God," Eric said, relieved.

"You made a good decision Sookie," Alcide said. "Staying out here where you're secluded with Bill isn't safe, even with Eric."

"I'm going to go upstairs and pack a bag," I said as I stood up. It was hard looking through my house and knowing that Bill could destroy it all. But there wasn't a point in preserving all the history and family memories if you had no one to pass it down to because your ex-boyfriend killed you.

"I'll come with," Amelia said, as she followed me upstairs.

Once we got to my room and I shut my door I sighed. "Oh my God, Ames. What am I going to do?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed.

"It's okay honey," Amelia replied as she hugged me. "You're going to go with Eric and you're going to be safe. That's what matters, that we're all safe."

"Why don't you come to Shreveport too? I'm sure you could stay with Eric and I, unless Alcide decides to commute."

"Sookie, Alcide and I are on our last leg and I'm not about to intrude on you and Eric. I know you and you're trying to be tough and accept all of this but I can practically see the gears working in your head. The less people you have to worry about, the better. You know I'll be safe with my dad. Bill wouldn't have a reason to go all the way down to New Orleans when you're up here and even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to get through my dad's security."

"But what about everyone else in Bon Temps? And what if Bill follows us to Shreveport?"

"Bill's not going to attack everyone in town just because you're missing. The only people that know where you're going is us four and Jason. Bill doesn't know where Laf lives and him and Tara are going to be on the lookout for Bill so they'll be safe. Lord knows Jason can handle himself. I would almost feel sorry for Bill if he ever tried anything with Jason. Besides, Bill doesn't even know where Jason lives. After Bill attacked Sam the first time, Sam's more prepared than ever. Nothing is going to happen to any of us while you're gone. Taking you out of the equation is going to make this safer for everyone. And based on everything I've heard about Eric from Alcide, he's pretty damn capable. I doubt Bill would be able to follow you all the way to Eric's house without him noticing."

"I hope you're right. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to anyone I cared about because of Bill."

"It's going to be okay. Now let's pack your bags. How much stuff do you think you're going to need?" Amelia asked as she started going through my clothes while I got my luggage from the closet. "Oh my God, Sookie. I can't believe you've been holding out on me!"

I poked my head out of the closet to see what had riled Amelia up and I saw she was holding up the lingerie I had bought on impulse.

"When did you get this and why didn't you call me to go shopping with you?" Amelia asked as she pouted at me.

"I wasn't planning on buying it, I was just window shopping and it happened."

"Any particular reason you decided to pick up some sexy lingerie?" Amelia asked with an amused smirk on her face.

"No, sometimes a girl just likes to look nice."

"Oh please. You'd look 'nice' wearing a potato sack. You are definitely packing these," Amelia said as she threw the lingerie into my luggage.

"Amelia! I can't pack something like that! If Eric sees it he'll get the wrong idea!"

"Or maybe he'll finally get the right idea. There's nothing I'd like more than to see you happy and I'm convinced Eric can make you happy."

"I don't need a man to make me happy."

"Well of course not but it's always nice to have someone provide you will unlimited sex and favors."

"Hardy-har-har."

"Oh suck it. No really, suck it, it helps put them in the mood."

"Oh my God!" I yelled, laughing at Amelia. Leave it to her to keep me laughing even in a time like this.

After we finished packing my bags we went downstairs to meet back up with Eric and Alcide. Eric was on the phone.

"Really? She'll be glad to hear that. We appreciate it. I'm sure she'll be happy to know she doesn't have to worry about coming into work. It's nice to know she has so many people that care about her. I'll text you his number and we can all keep each other updated. Okay. Bye."

"Who was that?" I asked once he got off the phone.

"That was Sam." At my confused look he continued. "Amelia helped us all exchange numbers so we could keep each other in the loop. Sam said you can log on to the cameras surrounding your house from the Internet so you'll be able to check in on your house even when you're not here."

"Really? That's great!" I was so glad I'd be able to keep an eye on my house. Even though there wasn't much I would be able to do from Shreveport, being able to see what was happening would give me a peace of mind.

"I'm going to run up and pack my bags really quickly and then we can get going."

While Eric ran upstairs to pack his bags I went through the house to make sure everything was in order. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to Jason to let him know I was going to be okay.

_Me: Hey, talked 2 Ames. Sorry I didn't tell u b4. Was trying to keep every1 safe._

_Jason: Not mad just worried. Don't want u 2 feel like u have 2 keep things from me._

_Me: R we ok?_

_Jason: Yeah. Coming by house tom to pick up fridge food & a few important things._

_Me: Shouldn't b here by urself…_

_Jason: Bringing Hoyt._

I really didn't want anyone coming over to the house while Bill was lurking through the woods but the fact that Jason was coming to clear out the refrigerator and grab some important things did make me feel better about leaving the house. I knew Jason could take care of himself, plus the fact that he was bringing his best friend, Hoyt, instantly made me feel better.

_Me: Thnx. Luv u. Call u 2morrow?_

_Jason: K. Luv u 2._

After I finished texting Jason I continued looking over the house for anything else I wanted or needed to take. I'd already packed picture books and Gran's jewelry. When I walked back toward the living room I overheard Alcide and Amelia talking.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Alcide asked.

"I don't have anything to say. I appreciate you helping Sookie out, but there really isn't anything left to be said between us. We had fun and now it's over."

"It's not…"

Alcide stopped talking when Eric started coming back down the steps.

"All set?" Eric asked once he reached the living room.

"Yep," I answered. You could feel the tension between Alcide and Amelia and it was making it awkward.

"Well, let's head out then…" Eric said, looking between Amelia and Alcide. I think he could tell something was going on between them too.

On the way to the car I kept wondering if Bill was watching from the woods at that very moment. I didn't think he would try anything with Eric and Alcide around but it was still creepy. Amelia and Alcide got in their own cars and I got into Eric's. Amelia was leaving for New Orleans and Alcide was going to follow us back to Shreveport.

The night had definitely turned into a nightmare but I felt my nerves start to calm down as I rode in the car with Eric. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt around him. No matter what was going on Eric always seemed like he had the ability to make me feel better.

We had been riding in silence until Eric spoke up.

"So, I have something to tell you but I'm pretty sure you already know about it."

"What's that?" I asked, totally confused.

"That day when I helped you carry in the groceries, I carried in a bag that didn't have groceries in it. I didn't think much of it until I found that bag the morning I made you cereal. I kind of peeked in the bag and then hid it from you."

I started to smile once I realized what he was talking about. "It might have given away the fact that you'd found the bag when you brought me the cereal. Especially considering I threw the bag in the cabinet with the cereal when I heard you coming."

"I didn't mean to keep it from you for so long. I was hiding it from you just to tease you but then everything started happening and I forgot about it. I'm bringing it up now because when I was packing my clothes, I found the bag in my drawer and remembered I put it in there. This sounds so creepy saying it out loud. I hope you don't think I'm a pervert… The thing is, the bag was empty when I took it out of my drawer today so I'm assuming you found it."

"Yeah, I might have looked through your things when I realized the bag was missing," I said as I smiled over at Eric. "And I never thought your intensions were creepy. I knew you weren't like that."

"That's a relief. So, what did you do with the stuff in the bag?"

"That's none of your business," I said, feigning shock. "Only a pervert would ask a lady about her underwear."

Eric busted out laughing and it made me laugh too. I loved hearing him laugh. It completely lit up his face. Before Eric could say anything else, his phone rang. He talked on the phone to Alcide most of the way up to Shreveport while I texted Amelia. I was a little worried about her taking the four-hour drive so late but Amelia had always been a night owl so I wasn't worried about her falling asleep while driving. Amelia also had Bluetooth in her car that allowed her to speak her messages rather than texting them out. Because of that I didn't have to worry about her being able to watch the road and text at the same time.

By the time we made it to Eric's apartment building I had already started to doze off. I hadn't even realized it until Eric had to shake me awake.

"Sookie, wake up. We're here."

I opened my eyes to see where Eric lived but all I saw was the inside of a parking garage.

"Where are we?"

"My apartment. Come on. Let's get your stuff inside and get you to bed."

Eric helped me out of the car and then grabbed my bags. The cars in the garage all looked like pretty nice cars. I wished I'd been awake to see the outside of the building.

We went into an elevator in the garage. Eric pulled his keys out of his pocket and inserted one into the keyhole on the elevator's panel. I had no idea how this elevator worked but it was unlike any elevator I'd ever seen before.

When we the elevator doors opened, they opened right into Eric's apartment. Eric's apartment was fancier than I would have imagined a cop would be able to afford. How in the heck did he manage to afford an apartment like this?

I heard Eric chuckle beside me and realized I'd spoken out loud. "Oh my God, please don't answer that. That was so rude."

"No, it's okay," Eric said as he continued to laugh. "I co-own a few clubs in the city that help pay the bills. I'm a police officer because I like to help people, not because I have to do it."

Eric being a person that liked to help did not surprise me. He had helped me out so much already when he'd barely even known me.

"You look dead on your feet so the full tour can wait until tomorrow. Let me just point out the essentials as I show you to your room."

We started in the living room and Eric showed me the kitchen before leading me to a hallway.

"Your room is going to be here. My room is at the end of the hall incase you need anything and you have a bathroom attached to your room."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of this."

"You don't have to keep thanking me, I want to help. Is there anything you need before you head to bed?"

"No I think I have everything," I answered as I stepped into my new room.

"Okay, if you don't mind, I'm going to head to bed. I've got to get up early tomorrow and touch base with everyone."

"I'll be fine. See you tomorrow."

"Night," Eric said as he left the doorway.

I wanted to try to stay awake until Amelia texted me and told me she made it to New Orleans but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake until then. I pulled out my phone and decided to text her before I fell asleep.

_Me: Made it to E's house. Feel like passing out. How's it going?_

_Amelia: There's not much traffic so I'm making good time. How's Eric's apartment?_

_Me: WAY nicer than I thought. Send you pics 2morrow._

_Amelia: Sounds good. Are you heading to bed?_

_Me: I think but want 2 know u make it ok._

_Amelia: If it makes you feel better I'll text you when I get there. I've been talking to Alcide off and on so I'll be okay._

_Me: I'm heading 2 bed then. Nite._

_Amelia: Night Sook._

I dug my phone charger out of my luggage and plugged my phone up. I wanted to check on my house but Eric forgot to tell me how exactly I was supposed to do that. I grabbed some pajamas out of my luggage and changed my clothes before I got into bed. I was so tired but I was having the hardest time falling asleep. I tossed and turned for a while before I started getting irritated. There was only one thing that I knew for sure would help me sleep.

I got out of bed and peeked into the hallway. The apartment was quiet so I could only assume Eric was asleep. With my goal in mind I crept into Eric's room. I slowly opened his bedroom door and could see that he was asleep in a huge bed. It had to have been a king. I didn't even bother to look out of the window in my bedroom but Eric's curtains were open and it looked like we were in the middle of the city. The lights from the city helped to illuminate Eric lying in his bed. I could tell that he was shirtless but I hoped he was wearing pants.

I slowly crossed the room until I got to Eric's bed. Without giving it a second thought I crawled inside. I felt Eric shift before he spoke.

"Sookie? What's wrong?"

"I figured out what favor I wanted to ask. I want to sleep with you."

"I thought we agreed that we couldn't ask for sex?" Eric asked, still teasing even when he was half asleep.

"I don't mean sex and you know it. I can't sleep so scoot over and make room for me," I told him as I cuddled into his side. The moment I was settled next to Eric, I finally felt comfortable enough to sleep.

With Eric's body wrapped around mine, my back against his chest, his arms wrapped around me, and our legs entangled, I finally fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N:** Does anyone else feel like I end a lot of chapters with people going to sleep? *raises hand* I do! lol

It's probably because I have sleep on the brain every time I write because I write in the middle of the night. It's almost 5 am right now and I'm still going to have to answer some reviews before I post this so I hope no one has an issues with me posting in the middle of the night, or really early morning, because that's usually when I post...

I'm done rambling so see you at the next update! And don't forget BOE is up next, after I finish it.


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